Our History
Our new store provides more than 5,000 sq. ft. of bright and airy racks and shelves of goods for customers to select from.
A little bit about our past…
In March of 1984 members of Smithville United Church came together to introduce a new community care program. They were: Rev. Barry Bain, Doris Allen, Mary Hiscott, Grace Hull and Florence King. Three months later 12 neighbourhood churches had joined in this effort and “West Lincoln Community Care” began its 1st chapter in a long history of providing a helping hand to those in need.
Starting with a donation of $30.00 the group stocked its first Food Bank. Teams of volunteers from the churches helped in both the Food Bank and a clothing drive. By the end of that year WLCC had helped 20 families in need. A reserve fund, funded by local donations, had a balance of just over $1,000.00 to continue the care provided. In 1985 a new Christmas Store (for food, clothing and small gifts to clients) began an annual tradition.
The 2nd chapter came in 1990, renting the former Smithers Feed Mill, WLCC opened the “Community Cabin” 3 days a week. In 1997 WLCC moved into the larger Water Works building at an annual rent of $1.00. In 2004 the Community Cabin moved into the old 900 sq. ft. “Lunchbox” restaurant. The 3rd chapter came in the summer of 2012 adding a 1,000 sq. ft. Furniture Store provided in the Stanpac premises on Industrial Rd. With these two premises and a growing body of volunteers WLCC opened 5 days a week to further develop its fundraising and community care activities.
In June 2004 WLCC was officially registered as an Ontario charitable corporation.
In 2007, amid the global recession, in a continuing effort to expand its fund-raising channels WLCC introduced its first Fund Raising dinner. The annual dinner in October 2018 had over 225 attendees at and was held at the Niagara Agricultural Center.
Over the years WLCC has expanded the range of financial and service support it provides to the community. This support includes the Food Bank, housing assistance (rent or utility), clothing, and an increasing emphasis on children’s needs (fees for school & recreation programs, backpacks for school, meal programs, etc.) See the Programs section of our web site for more information.
Due to these ever increasing needs it was necessary in 2018 for WLCC to grow its retail revenue space. So, in partnership with one of its largest benefactors – Stanpac, WLCC enlarged its Furniture Store beside Home Hardware. This new store offers a much larger inventory of goods and expands its fund-raising capability.