By AFRO Staff
On May 23, the Ames Shalom community announced that the Cook Family, owners of Northeastern Supply, donated Northeastern Supply’s Sandtown location to Ames Shalom Community, in support of The Resurrection Sandtown Project. The donated store, located within the Historic Pennsylvania Avenue Black Arts & Entertainment District, along with a nearby warehouse, more than doubles Resurrection Sandtown’s property assets.
A Transfer-of-Property Ceremony will take place on May 25 at 12:00 p.m. at the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Baker Street. Remarks will be given by:
• Steve Cook, CEO of Northeastern Supply
• Bishop Latrell Miller Easterling, Episcopal Leader of the Baltimore Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church
• State Senator Antonio Hayes
• Comptroller of the State of Maryland and Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate, Peter Franchot
There will also be remarks from residents, community and business leaders who work and live in Sandtown.
The Cook family’s donation of the 26,000-square-foot retail building, and two nearby properties totaling 10,000 square feet, is a historic expansion of the Cook Family’s commitment to family, service, and community involvement and represents an enormous boost in support of the resurrection of Sandtown’s revitalization efforts in the Sandtown community.
Founded in 1945, Northeastern Supply began in a group of converted “row houses” in downtown Baltimore, Md. John Cook joined Northeastern Supply in 1964 and in 1971 he purchased the company. John Cook’s legacy continues with the third generation of Cooks now involved in the family business. John’s son, Steve Cook, took over as President in 1987 and propelled Northeastern Supply’s growth from four to almost forty branches in five states, plus a state-of-the-art central distribution center. On May 23, with Steve Cook now the CEO and his daughter Stephanie Cook as the director, the family legacy of proud and extensive support to communities and community organizations continues with this generous donation.
The Cook Family opened the Northeastern Supply Sandtown location nearly 23 years ago and
immediately invested in Sandtown by providing jobs and job training. Employees were encouraged to directly support their local community and did so by participating in food giveaways, peace walks, book bag giveaways, community clean-ups and other efforts right in Sandtown.
Supported by the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, the Resurrection Sandtown Project was launched in 2016 to address systemic structural shortfalls that perpetuate inadequate housing, endemic poverty, and unacceptable levels of crime in the Sandtown-Winchester Community. The Resurrection Sandtown Project is exploring partnerships with organizations focused on early childhood development, health and mental health services, youth recreation, arts and entertainment venues, plus entrepreneurial and affordable housing opportunities. Decisions on the use and reconfiguration of the former Northeastern Supply Sandtown location will be extensively based on community input. Potential uses include retail space for locally-based entrepreneurs, space for arts and entertainment venues, expanded tutoring and mentoring capabilities, workforce readiness or development, and other aspirations consistent with the culture and proud history of the Historic Sandtown.
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