LOGAN – For a charity organization to change locations, it can affect their ability do their work and rally volunteers.
That is the case for Cache Valley Humanitarian Center (CVHC). The organization is no longer at the old seminary building adjacent to Mount Logan Middle School. The Logan School District needed the space, so Dwight and Kay Whittaker, directors of the CVHC, had to find a new location to operate.
The humanitarian aid group had a good start getting groups of volunteers. That might change after moving to a new location.
ConService offered them a temporary place to work. They moved all their equipment to 595 South Riverwood Parkway, Suite 130. They are open on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. until noon, then on Wednesdays from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m. and other times by appointment.
This temporary location will be used until December. If they don’t find a new location, they may be done.
After a month moving and getting things ready, Dwight said they took their first groups on Tuesday morning, April 22, and another on Wednesday afternoon, April 23.
“We opened our doors to their regular volunteers, who were happy to be back serving Cache Valley again,” he said. “Tuesday evening a group of 28 youth and their leaders, from Hyde Park, came and they were the first youth group at our new location. They started making 56 sleeping mats for the homeless for the WAB Warming Center.”
They had another group Wednesday afternoon when the Green Canyon High School Ambassadors volunteered their service as well.
“Each sleeping mat and pillow requires at least 600 recycled grocery bags and 30 hours of direct labor, provided by volunteers of all ages,” Whittaker said. ”Our regular volunteers were happy to be back serving Cache Valley again, after a month of moving and preparation time.”
He said they are seeking donations so they can buy or build a permanent place to house the center.
With the Hyrum Humanitarian Center closing, Whittaker hopes their volunteer will support what they are doing as they move further south. The Hyrum Humanitarian Center closed for various reasons. The funding was cut and someone donated quilting material infested with bed bugs.
“The Hyrum Humanitarian Center gave us six sewing machines, quilting material and all the three different quilt frames,” Whittaker said. “We are looking for more material for quilting, but we will not accept bags of material from garages or not stored properly. We will accept material on the bolt or disinfected, not just pieces.”
They are leery of what material people bring in after the bedbug problem in Hyrum.
“We want people to check their donations,” he said. “We need and would love to have more fabric.”
CVHC can’t jeopardize contaminating the school kits and hygiene kits. They want to be careful with what they accept from outside sources.
Besides the sleeping mats, the organization’s volunteers assemble hygiene and school backpacks.
The group has distributed thousands of coats and quilts and books and are still growing in their client list.
CVHC is an interfaith service where anyone is welcome to come and participate.
The Whittakers organized the CVHC in 2021 after operating one in Idaho Falls.
“We started in Idaho Falls where we were involved in a humanitarian center,” he said. “When we moved to Logan, we had the idea of starting one in our back pockets. After checking with area nonprofits, we found there was a need.”
CVHC will also accept donations by check or Venmo. For more information, or to schedule a group or individuals to volunteer, go to cvhumanitariancenter@gmail.com or call (208) 206-3270.