The Hive of Hope Mills: A community catalyst for connection and engagement

By Emily Ruth Perry, posted May 4, 2026 on BizFayetteville.com

Kevin Grant, THOHM executive director, shared the story behind why he wanted to bring this venue to Hope Mills at the grand opening. Photo by GFBJ.

The Hive of Hope Mills (THOHM) has been the vision of Kevin Grant, a local developer and the THOHM executive director, since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. He noticed how distant people had become, and wanted to create a space designed for people to gather and engage with each other.

When he found a house for sale at the corner of Hope Mills Municipal Park, this seemed like the perfect location to bring about this community gathering space. At the grand opening on Friday, April 10, Grant saw this vision come to life as people floated between six food trucks and their anchor vendor, Big T’s.

Big T’s, which features flavored snoballs and fair-style food, has been a local favorite of Hope Mills since 2000 when Timmy (Big T) and Donna Gray first opened right on Hope Mills Lake. It is a seasonal restaurant, so many of Big T’s loyal customers were happy to hear they would now be open year-round, seven days a week.

Angela Culver, who is the daughter of Timmy and Donna Gray, now owns and operates Big T’s with her husband, Rob.

Speaking about their hometown heritage, Angela Culver shared, “My dad has been here his whole life, born and raised in Hope Mills. My mom came here when she was young; her dad was in the military. I am from Hope Mills as well…I purchased the business from my parents five years ago. They had put a lot of hard work into building the customer base and growing the business. I left the medical field to run Big T’s so they could enjoy life a bit…now my parents come by almost every day to have lunch with us.”

Grant approached the Culvers at the end of 2025 to run the restaurant inside the Hive.

“It’s been a blessing to have [Big T’s] jump on board. They bring in a great client base and name recognition,” shared Grant.

THOHM is a food truck park and community space for events, live music and local markets, but Grant says it’s primarily a safe space for anyone, in particular people with disabilities. The Hive of Hope Mills partners with Kwirkz, a nonprofit designed to empower and support individuals with disabilities through education, employment, social life, transportation and housing. THOHM patrons can round up the cost of their meal to donate to Kwirkz, and Grant plans to have community awareness events throughout the year for the organization.

Sunday, June 28, 1-4 p.m., THOHM will host Kick it for Kwirkz, an adaptive and inclusive soccer game.

When speaking about the evolution of this development, Hope Mills Town Manager Chancer McLaughlin said, “This man fell out of the sky! We were not looking at that corner of the park for development; it was a residential area. And then he brought all of these papers and ideas to my office…. What drew me to it immediately was when he started talking about the kids with special needs, and the mobile libraries…”

Grant has plans for a lot of community engagement programming, and he believes this is only the beginning.

All of his hopes for THOHM align well with the current vision and use for Hope Mills Municipal Park.

McLaughlin explained, “We just decided to move our Juneteenth celebration to the park. Because of the Hive’s proximity to the park, it’s very easy to extend the park to the Hive and vice versa…We are collaborating on security cameras and other things…Now we’re bringing life to the farthest part of the park, and we have eyes over there…This will change how we plan events like Juneteenth and 4th of July, especially when it comes to food.”

One of the most innovative parts of THOHM in regard to their food trucks is that as many as seven trucks are each able to hook up to power running under their parking pad. This means that instead of hearing the buzz of generators (and inhaling the related fumes), patrons hear family-friendly music playing from the Hive’s speaker. Also, for the convenience of the food truck owners and the safety of the patrons, THOHM provides a commercial-grade kitchen for food truck prep.

Grant initially received more than 80 food truck applications, and a portion of those food trucks are now in the current rotation. Food truck owners and operators interested in THOHM must meet all food, health and insurance requirements, and can find an application on the THOHM website.

Grant recognizes that Fayetteville and the surrounding community have a large pool of food trucks, and multiple food truck parks can multiply their business and profits.

“On Saturday of the opening weekend, Big T’s took in over 600 orders and every food truck sold out!” shared Grant.

Grant believes the model for The Hive of Hope Mills can be replicated throughout the greater Fayetteville area, and The Hive is set up with the ability to franchise. Grant imagines these community Hives all over the area, and wants to draw people back to face-to-face engagement and fun.

For more information about THOHM, visit them online at www.thehiveofhopemills.com.

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