Celebrating the Douma Family and their Impact on the Food Center

Today we celebrate the retirement of one of our most faithful team members, Ron Douma! Throughout his years of involvement with Streams of Hope, Ron has been an incredible ambassador for our ministry. Ron and his wife Norma, along with many of their children and grandchildren, have consistently poured time and energy into this campus to help it run effectively.

You may know that Streams of Hope began as a combination of ministries from Covenant Christian Reformed Church, Hillside Church, and other local organizations. An old building occupied the lot where Streams of Hope now stands, and Ron was on the committee to help construct a new building to increase our capabilities. Ron remembers fondly the many supporters who donated time, talent, resources, and gifts in kind to construct the community center. Donated items included the truck used for food deliveries, paint services, building materials, a forklift, and project management of the new construction.

One of Ron’s sons, who worked in engineering, provided the site planning and building lay out. Another of Ron’s sons helped clear the land of trees before construction began, and his son-in-law built cabinets that still line the Food Center walls.

In the years since the new Food Center was completed, Ron has faithfully served as a truck driver to pick up food from all our different suppliers, including Feeding America, the Buist Community Center, Hungry for Christ, Trader Joe’s, and Meijer stores. Since its inception, the Food Center has continued to grow and expand to serve even more families. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw an influx of visitors that raised our average to 540 families served each month.

Looking back on his involvement with Streams of Hope, Ron says “I hope neighbors feel the Lord’s blessing like Norma and I did. We were blessed in the whole journey.”

We are full of gratitude for Ron and Norma, and many other supporters, who have generously supported Streams of Hope. To learn more about ways to get involved, visit our volunteer page or give a secure online gift here.