Community Activism, a capstone course designed to facilitate real-world learning for high school seniors, was created by Kyle Fannin of the Social Studies Department at Woodford County High School. Initially taught by Kyle and later by Andy Smith, the course empowered students to engage directly with their community. Through this work, students launched early “Spark Downtown Versailles” pop-up festivals and coffee shops aimed at stimulating economic development in downtown Versailles.

In 2016, Tristan Ferrell led a group of students, Katie Beth Craig, Keegan Elvidge, Reagan Jobe, and Rachael Kral, through the process of creating a permanent community café. Alongside Fannin, Smith, Lori Garkovich, Maria Bohannan, and Ouita Michel, this collective effort resulted in the formation of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Together, more than $150,000 was raised to bring the vision to life.

That vision became reality on March 27, 2019, with the opening of Spark Community Café—a pay-what-you-can, pay-it-forward restaurant rooted in dignity, inclusion, and community connection.

Since opening, Spark Community Café grew into a vibrant gathering place. In addition to daily service, Spark expanded to include onsite and offsite catering as a sustainable funding source, while the café itself hosted community meetings, book clubs, special events, and even weddings.

At its heart, Spark Community Café exists to provide great food with dignity for all within a welcoming community space, But the pandemic taught us that many families in our community lived paycheck to paycheck and the closures meant providing meals had to expand beyond the doors of the Café. We began preparing and delivering family-style meals eventually to over 100 households twice a week. For the next several years, we delivered far more meals to individuals and families in need than we served in the Café.

In June 2025, Spark Community Café made the difficult decision to close its physical location and shift its full focus toward supporting the mission through delivered meals. Facility expenses and increasing food costs forced the Café to choose between maintaining a building or continuing the commitment to provide family-style meals to those in our community who struggle with food costs—and the choice was clear.

Since the closure of the Café in June 2025, Spark Community Café has continued its work, as Spark of Hope. Our weekly deliveries continue, our dedicated volunteers remain steadfast in their support, and most importantly, we have experienced an influx of giving that now goes directly toward fighting food insecurity, without the cost of maintaining a physical facility.

This shift has allowed Spark of Hope to focus fully on what matters most: serving families, strengthening community partnerships, meeting real needs, and ensuring every dollar makes the greatest possible impact in our community.