Past Newsletters

…In a land not so far away, leaders in Allen recognized a need in the community and had the foresight to provide services for neighbors facing crisis situations. Gary Rodenbaugh recalls a group of community-minded individuals gathered around a kitchen table, discussing the lack of resources in their growing community.

These services included essential items such as clothing. From those conversations, Allen Community Outreach (ACO) was born. A nonprofit organization was formed, complete with a Board of Directors. Bob Williams served as ACO’s first President —40 years ago.

As I sit down this morning to write this message, one thing keeps crossing my mind—I’m hungry! I can’t quite remember if I skipped breakfast (a habit I’m trying to break), but I think I grabbed a protein shake on the way out the door. Either way, my hunger makes me start thinking about tonight’s dinner plans too. Should I cook tonight, or are we eating out? Can you relate to wandering thoughts of food like I do?

Answering a call at the front desk from someone facing homelessness and guiding them through the process of applying for assistance.

Assisting an appreciative grandmother as she loads her car with groceries from the ACO Food Pantry.

Sorting donated clothing and household items to ensure the ACO Cares Center is stocked with essentials for families in need.

What comes to mind when you think of All Community Outreach? To many, their first thought is that we are a food pantry. And we are! We are one of the largest in Collin County. Last year, more than 1.4 MILLION pounds of food were distributed to local families facing hunger.

But ACO is more than a food pantry. You probably also think of ACO as an agency to provide financial assistance to those families facing homelessness. And we are! ACO receives an average of 20 applications each day from Collin County residents requesting help with their rent and utility bills.

If you followed ACO’s progress last year, then you know we had quite a year of expansion! We weren’t one of those agencies who had big bucks to match our big dreams (oh yes, we did have the dreams!) of building a big beautiful new facility to serve Collin County families. We could have spent a few years in the midst of a capital campaign to raise funds to do so. However, is that the best use of funding? How many families could we help versus the cost of a new building?

Happy New Year! I hope that your year is off to a great start and that 2025 is a very happy and healthy year for you and your family.

Our staff and our Board of Directors will be looking ahead to the new year and how we can continue to grow and improve upon programs and services to change more lives in 2025. We’re a bit different than other local agencies in how we serve the community.