Display a block even if it is empty
I agree with '2-Stroker'. Do this:

function HOOK_block_view_alter(&amp;$data, $block) {
  if ($block-&gt;module == 'menu_block' &amp;&amp; $block-&gt;delta == 'DELTA_OF_THE_BLOCK') {
    $data = array('subject' =&gt; 'TITLE OF BLOCK', 'content' =&gt; '&amp;nbsp;');
  }
}