By Verna Slate, Williamson County Bureau
HERRIN — The Herrin House of Hope has already blown past its old fundraising highs, and now it's asking the county to help it do it again, according to the Southern Illinoisan.
Hope Fest, the nonprofit's signature event, is entering its 15th year of operation. The organization has quietly become one of the county's steadier safety nets — the kind of outfit that doesn't make headlines until it needs help paying for its own good work.
That's the pattern here: the mines close, the storefronts go dark, and it's the House of Hope and outfits like it that pick up where the county budget can't reach. Fifteen years is a long time to keep that going on donations and volunteer hours.
Details on this year's Hope Fest weren't fully spelled out in early reporting, but the trajectory is clear — record numbers, record need, and a Herrin institution betting it can do both again.
- filed from the courthouse steps, where the ghosts take good notes.
— Compiled from reporting by the Southern Illinoisan.
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