Turn on the news at any given point during the day and you are sure to be bombarded with stories of hate, anger and all sorts of despicable things.
Throughout this summer, Good Samaritan Ministries is seeking the help of Brown County residents to change the landscape into one of kind acts and start a different conversation during the summer months.
“We have begun a project called the Summer of Kindness that strives to simply do what the name implies, spread kindness throughout the community during June, July and August,” said Angelia Bostick, Executive Director of Good Samaritan Ministries. “We just want to encourage people to not only do kind things but to recognize those acts in others as well so our focus is on something that builds up not tears down.”
To kick off the program, GSM has bottles of water tagged and in boxes, ready to be checked out. Bostick said the idea is to send people into the community armed with a cool drink of water to share.
“That’s it,” she said. “All we ask is that groups or individuals who want to participate call us the day before they want to pick up their water so we can make sure to have some in the cooler so it is nice and cold when they come to pick it up.”
The next day, Bostick said, someone can just sign out the box of water and then pass the bottles out wherever they choose.
It’s a start. A small one, but any act of kindness has the potential to be hugely impactful.
“And that’s the idea,” said Bostick. “We want to generate meaningful conversation about the positive things that are happening in the community and to provide an opportunity for Brown County to be a part of that conversation.”
In addition to the water for Summer of Kindness, Good Samaritan Ministries has many opportunities for groups, families or individuals to volunteer either during regular business hours or after hours. There are clothes to be sorted and hung, food to be cleaned, inspected and sorted, homeless boxes to be packed and so much more than can be done on site at GSM.
Other ways groups can help is by holding a food drive. For example, during June, the supply of spaghetti sauce that could be ordered through the food bank was limited so GSM asked people to donate cans of spaghetti sauce to complete the June menu for their families and the community responded by doing just that. In fact, it even attracted the attention of some out of towners.
Bostick said one lady read about the need on Facebook and brought a box full of spaghetti sauce from Lubbock when she came to visit family in the area.
GSM is also asking churches to collect boxes of macaroni and cheese during their Vacation Bible Schools. At the end of VBS season, staff will take a picture of all of the macaroni collected to show how much has been collected overall.
There are other hunger ministries that need food periodically so call 325-643-2273 to see what they need and then hold a food drive at your church, your school or place of business!
Bostick said another way you can help the organization is to share their updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
“We are trying to expand our presence on social media and, by so doing, to expand our presence in the community,” Bostick said. “When you like us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and then share our updates, it helps us to reach a whole other audience than we could do without you.”
To find out more about Good Samaritan Ministries and how you, your family or your organization can be involved, please call 643-2273 or email office@goodsambwd.org.
