Midland Soup Kitchen Ministry asks for voters’ support in passing election proposition
MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- On November 5th, voters in Midland County will see a proposition, to which they can either vote "for" or "against." The proposition? The conveyance of land by the City of Midland, to Midland Soup Kitchen Ministry.
Located on blocks 29 and 36 in East Midland behind the Midland Soup Kitchen Ministry building, a 3.74-acre tract of mostly unimproved land will have the chance to be given back to the Midland Soup Kitchen; but it all depends on Midland County voters.
Proposition A will appear on the Midland County ballot as follows: "The Conveyance by the City of Midland, Texas of A 3.74-acre tract of land out of blocks 29 and 36, East Midland addition, City and County of Midland Texas. Said tract being a portion of Hidalgo Park that is mostly unimproved, to Midland Soup Kitchen Ministry, a nonprofit organization, to be used in a manner that primarily promotes a public purpose of the City of Midland, Texas."
Midland Soup Kitchen Ministry administrator, Nathen Ivey, who has been working to campaign for the Hidalgo Park proposition, said that it's important to vote for this much-needed piece of land because it will help the Midland Soup Kitchen Ministry expand.
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"Midland has grown so, so much in the past year, it's something that we're seeing more and more people on a daily basis, but our space is not growing," Ivey said. "We're ready to change what we need to do and make our outreach and our mission grow even more."
Previously owned by Midland Soup Kitchen Ministry, the portion of land behind the building had been given back to the City of Midland because, at the time, there was no use for it.
"My grandfather just had to keep it mowed and we never had dreams that- we would ever have to expand or do anything like that...and so we actually gave it back to the city," Ivey said. "We're hoping to get that transfer of power back from the city into our name and be able to put that land into something that the community can use."
According to Ivey and the ballot proposal, the 3.74-acre tract of land, although categorized as a park, is empty and mostly unimproved.
"We're trying to get to the community to understand...we are not tearing down any portion of a park...This is something that is categorized as park property, but it is not anything, it is not swing sets or anything like that," Ivey said. "It is only an undeveloped, not-used piece of property that we're ready to put to good use."
According to Ivey, the much-needed land behind the soup kitchen would be used as a parking lot for safer holiday meals.
"We need to get it developed in order for us to have safer holiday meals. Because we have about a thousand people every single year," Ivey said. "We need that parking first. How we sit right now, we don't own our own parking lots in the ministry right now."
Overall, the Midland Soup Kitchen Ministry continues to invite all voters to choose "for" Proposition A at the polls.
"We're just asking for the community's vote on November 5th to say yes to Proposition A," Ivey said. "It's something that is going to be the future of our ministry and it's going to be the future of not only what we can do for the people of Midland, but just the community life in the whole."
