More in Store than Groceries

For more than a decade, residents in the tiny town of Gloster, Mississippi, (population 960) had to drive more than 45 minutes to get to a grocery store offering fresh fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods.

That changed in 2018, when dozens of excited residents helped cut the ribbon on a new Piggly Wiggly grocery store. HOPE provided the financing that allowed Jason Cook, the store’s owner/operator, to open Piggly Wiggly’s doors and put Gloster’s residents on a path to better nutrition and improved health.

“HOPE played a part in something bigger than opening a grocery store,” Cook wrote in a letter to HOPE. “We have had a tremendous impact on people’s lives in Gloster and Amite County. I have been hugged, prayed over, thanked, and cried on as residents rejoice in their new local supermarket. I cannot express to you how moved and humbled I have been.”

Cook chose HOPE as his financial partner specifically due to HOPE’s commitment to eliminating food deserts.

“I chose to go through HOPE because it was always a bigger picture situation for me,” Cook says. “HOPE aligns itself to help people. That’s the reason I was led to the HOPE team. In business, we have to turn a profit, but being able to do work we enjoy while helping others is what’s truly satisfying.”

Months after the Piggly Wiggly’s opening, Cook is still amazed by the uplifting effect the bright, clean store has had on a community that felt largely forgotten.

“One moment stands out more than any other.,” Cook says. “A customer came to me and said, ‘Bless you. We haven’t felt like human beings here for years and now we do.’”