ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Allentown Rescue Mission’s basement was a full house Wednesday morning as clients, employees and supporters opened the nonprofit’s newly expanded emergency shelter.
The expansion added 22 new beds in a former storage space at the shelter. The mission now can serve almost 150 people across its shelter, transformation program and Clean Team Workforce.
“This is an answer to prayer."
Skip Smith, Allentown Rescue Mission CEO
Those extra beds are particularly useful when temporary shelters throughout the Lehigh Valley close down in mid-April each year, Allentown Rescue Mission Chief Executive Officer Skip Smith said.
Smith called it “a peak season” for demand for the organization’s services.
A significant gift
Smith paid tribute to Al Granger, the late former owner of the Glasbern Inn in Fogelsville.
Granger funded the expansion with a six-figure donation before his death in June 2024, Smith said.
“We had it thought through already with what we could do; we just didn't have the funds.”
Allentown Rescue Mission Chief Executive Officer Skip Smith
Smith called the quick ribbon-cutting ceremony in the shelter expansion a moment of celebration and sadness.
“Al gave me a call and said, ‘I've got $500,000 for you, if you can spend it on capital [projects],’” Smith said.
Allentown Rescue Mission officials were planning an expansion but didn’t know how they’d afford it before Granger’s call, Smith said.
“We had it thought through already with what we could do; we just didn't have the funds,” Smith said.
'Would have loved to have seen this'
Smith lamented that Granger could not see what his gift paid for, but said Granger’s wife told him he “would have loved to have seen this.”
Allentown Rescue Mission, a faith-based organization, helped one of Granger’s sons, which led the businessman to become a “consistent and dedicated donor and supporter,” according to Smith.
Granger also financed the elevator at the Allentown Rescue Mission on Hamilton Street, established a scholarship fund for its clients and helped make other improvements over three decades.
“This is an answer to prayer,” Smith said Wednesday of Granger’s half-million-dollar donation.