Hope in Christ Ministries hosting gospel stage play fundraiser

By KANDACE MCCOY

kandace.mccoy@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — Tickets go on sale Wednesday for the annual Hope In Christ Ministries Homeless Shelter community fundraiser, the gospel stage play, “Never Say Never.”

“We thought we’d do something different this year,” said HICM Director Hope Stuckey. “We wanted to try to bring more people, get more awareness of the homeless and we thought if we had a play and people come and see it, they could feel the need to help the homeless shelter.”

The play is written by Stuckey’s sister, Chiquita Miller-Nolan, who has written a number of plays for her local church in Oklahoma and has also performed on the stage.

“Hope called me and since she normally does a community event every year and fundraiser, she asked me if I thought I could write a play that dealt with a homeless situation,” Miller-Nolan explained. “So I accepted the challenge — because it was a challenge. After praying about it and asking God how to do it, it just came together.”

“Never Say Never” is about a series of events that surrounds five different characters in a homeless environment: The main character, Essie May, finds herself homeless after her husband dies; a young teenage girl runs away from home because she believes she knows more about the world than her parents; a male youth finds himself on the streets as a result of a domestic homelife; there’s a war veteran, also on the streets; and a CEO has to pass by homeless camps every day to his office.

“‘Never Say Never’ helps show how when a system is put in place, how people can get their lives back — it doesn’t take you all the way down,” Miller-Nolan added. “Theirs is a system that pulls them back into a functional arena — and this fosters the mission of Hope in Christ Ministries.”

She describes the play as one in which the audience “will laugh, cry and find hope to move forward no matter how hard life knocks you down.”

“It’s about not taking life for granted,” Stuckey said. “We’ll say we would never be homeless, or never go to a shelter or never help nobody — we never know what we’re going to do.”

Characters will be portrayed by a volunteer cast from Oklahoma as well as a few locals from Mt. Vernon and Centralia, Miller-Nolan said.

Door prizes will also be given away during intermission, according to information, including Buddy Pass tickets from Southwest Airlines.

“Never Say Never” will be performed on Sunday, April 25 at the Antioch International Assembly, 228 S. Ninth St., from 6 to 8 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children and will be on sale beginning Wednesday through April 16.

In addition to the play, Hope In Christ Ministries is also participating in the Alan Feinstein Challenge to Fight Hunger, which began March 1 and will continue April 30. For a dozen years, the Feinstein Foundation has given away millions of dollars each year to anti-hunger agencies throughout the country. According to information, money or food donated valued at $1 to the ministry will be added by the Feinstein Foundation.

Donations to Hope in Christ Ministries can be mailed or dropped off at the shelter at 1515 S. 14th St.

For more information about these programs, you may contact Hope In Christ Ministries at 241-9307.

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