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Harvest Hope location in Cayce is closing down

The agency says the move to shutter the Harvest Hope in Cayce is strictly a business decision

Cayce, SC (WLTX) - The Harvest Hope location in the city of Cayce is shutting down.

A spokesperson for Harvest Hope confirmed the location on 12th Street will close for good on Wednesday, November 21. The agency says the move is strictly a business decision, adding that the amount of money going into running that location is more than what they're able to sustain.

The company says they've entered into a partnership with Mission Lexington, as well as 20 other agencies in Lexington County, to continue to service clients in that area.

People are shocked after Harvest Hope announced they would be closing its doors at their food bank in Cayce.

Mary Williams came by Thursday morning to bring home meals for her family but quickly realized she wasn't able to get inside the building.

"A lot of people depend on the food bank. It helps a lot of people. Helped me,” explained Williams.

Harvest Hope said the 12th street location will be closing for business reasons next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

Williams is concerned this happened so close to the holidays.

"It helps us eat. Those that don't get food stamps, get disability every month, you got to go in the grocery store with what little bit you get. Try to survive on that,” said Williams.

Keith Ferrell, the interim CEO of Harvest Food Bank, says they've been thinking about this decision for a while.

"We wanted to make sure before we did something like this that the clients we serve, were going to be served and continue to be served," said Ferrell.

He says they're partnering with Mission Lexington to still help serve the families in the Lexington area.

Mission Lexington has a food bank, clothes, and counseling available for the people they serve.

"What we had going on there is a duplication of efforts. It just made sense for us to partner together. It makes us more efficient. It gives us the opportunity to feed more people quicker than we currently do," explained Ferrell.

Ferrell says they had to make the decision so close to Thanksgiving because of leasing. He believes they'll be able to use the money they'll save from that to be a better help to the community.

For those concerned about Thanksgiving, Ferrell says you can still come to the Shop Road location.

"First off, they can come here, if they have any question whatsoever, they can come here first or they can go to Mission Lexington," said Ferrell. "It's a change. It's only five miles away from where we currently are. It's not that much further. It may be a little bit of an inconvenience for some folks. Again, Mission Lexington offers more programs than we do but there is a place for those families to go."

Ferrell says no one who worked at the Cayce location will lose their jobs. They'll be able to move to the food bank off of Shop Road and double their efforts there.

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