On October 7th the Good Samaritan Center held its quarterly meeting which

covered the months of July, August, and September. The following report reveals the number of bags of groceries dispensed, the number of families receiving those groceries, and the number of people involved.

GROCERIES:

MONTH No. of Bags No. of Families No. of People No.of Families Added

July 216 75 217 2

August 242 91 300 10

Sept. 240 94 295 12

TOTAL 698 260 812 *24

*You will note that, as the economy grew worse, the number of families applying for groceries grew larger. This trend, no doubt, will continue to rise for the same reason.

Additionally, listed below are the number of persons receiving special aid: - assistance in paying rent, electricity, water, emergency gas, medicine, propane, and/or other **miscellaneous items:

MISCELLANEOUS AID:

MONTH RENT PEC. WATER MEDICINE GAS OTHER PROPANE TOTAL

July 825. - 837.93 79.38 120. - 150.00 $2,012.31

Aug. - 300. 208.37 - 30. **1,855. 146.21 2,539.58

Sept. - 625. 634.55 - 230. - 87.50 1,577.05

Total Special Aid for July, August, and September: $6,128.94

**In August the Center distributed school supplies to 46 children, Trinity Lutheran graciously provided for an additional eight and assisted in dispensing all of the supplies. THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH.

Each month requires from $600 to $700 to purchase groceries from the Austin Food Bank, with the added cost of purchasing ground meat and chicken from Super-S. So you can see, this is not an inexpensive endeavor. The Good Samaritan Center owns its own land and building, all debt-free. It is staffed by volunteers only - no paid employees. This brings up an important point: Volunteers are badly needed. Some churches have discontinued supplying any volunteers; we strongly encourage your members to reconsider and volunteer to work at least one day per month. By doing so you will be assisting in per-

forming a much needed portion of the Lord’s work.

The Center is so grateful to those churches who are very generous in both contributions and volunteers (You know who you are.) Additionally, Blanco has a very generous individual and to that contributor we are extremely grateful. Although income is generated from the sale of donated merchandise, ($6,998.28 for the quarter), additional funds are needed to purchase groceries and provide special aid to the needy during this uncertain economic time.

THANKSGIVING TURKEYS: This year, because some families pick up their monthly groceries on the first Wednesday of each month, the Center will begin dis-

pensing Thanksgiving turkeys on Wednesday, November 5th - only to a family whose name presently appears on the Centers current list, continuing distri-

bution to those families on a first-come/first-serve basis until all turkeys have been given out.

Again, many thanks to all those people who assist in the Center=s ongoing work. You are very special and appreciated.

Dorothy Howe Dillon