Wednesday. Hump day. It’s the day most people hope to get through just to make it one day closer to the weekend.
However, for some of our friends and neighbors, this Wednesday was different. A few families just hoped to make it through another day, period.
The day began like most have at Good Samaritan for the month of December – with a line at the front door full of people waiting to get their grocery staples and Christmas box. GSM anticipated a greater need this year, but didn’t quite expect 591 families in five days.
Something different was in the air Wednesday as stories began pouring in.
One young lady mentioned that things were so bad that she contemplated hurting herself. Another man didn’t know how long he would be able to make it and had no food at all in his house when he walked through the front doors. Another mom who came to pick up food and clothes for herself and her two sons told workers in awe that she was dating a man who didn’t swear at or hit her at all, as if she could hardly believe such a person existed.
Another volunteer from a different non-profit organization in town noticed that a young boy he mentored was hungry. Upon further inspection, the boy’s mother had no income, three children, and a boyfriend who had just left her alone. The volunteer came to GSM, picked the family up some food, got the children signed up for the Backpacks for Kids program to provide them with backpacks full of food to get them through the weekends, and was going to bring the mother back to get help to have the family’s water turned back on.
And by the end of the day on Wednesday, another 127 families had picked up grocery staples and Christmas boxes, bringing the total for the month of December to 718 families in six days.
Anticipating that the need will be great is one thing. Seeing the reality is another. Assuming that people with a need have somehow brought this on themselves is bad enough. Turning a blind eye to an entire segment of our community because we want to believe it doesn’t exist is still another thing altogether.
For most people Christmas is a happy time. It’s a time to spend with family, to reflect on the year behind and make projections for the future. We may find Christmas shopping stressful and labor over just the right gift for a loved one.
But many families in the community are facing not only a bare Christmas tree, but empty cupboards as well. Shopping for gifts isn’t even a thought as they wonder if they’ll be able to pay their bills and keep the electricity on for another month.
And as the buggies fill up with plastic grocery bags and boxes full of food ready to be given to our friends and neighbors who need a little extra help this month, the crates upon crates of food that only a week ago was stacked almost to the ceiling, is slowly dwindling.
“We’ll have food to give to anyone who walks in the door with a need,” Angelia Bostick, executive director of GSM said. “We won’t run out of Christmas boxes before December 23. But, come January 3, we’ll open our doors and do it all again. That’s why every donation, every food drive, every can that is given, is so important.”
There is no denying that the need is great this year, Bostick said.
“But the generous and giving nature of our community is even greater.”
Throughout the month of December, GSM’s extended hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wednesday from 1 to 5 p.m. Offices will close after 2 p.m. Thursday, December 23 and reopen at 9 a.m. Monday, January 3.
Christmas box drop off locations are located at: Trans Texas Tire, Brownwood City Hall, Burkes Outlet, KOXE, Fit by Faith, Family Services Center, First United Methodist Church Pre-School, Rhinestone Ranch/The Rage, J.B. Stephens Elementary School and Wendlee Broadcasting.
For more information about GSM or the services it provides, call 643-2273 or stop by 305 Clark Street.
Pictures contributed by GSM. Pictured above are Christmas boxes filled with shelf stable food are stacked throughout the GSM food warehouse waiting a hen, eggs and butter that will be added before they are placed in a buggy and given to those who need them.
Christmas food on Thursday.
SugarThursday.
Sugar as it was stocked on Tuesday.
Frosting Tuesday before stocking into boxes.
Frosting on Thursday.
Christmas boxes waiting to have a hen placed in them and then to be picked up. Below are buggies with the boxes, which will be filled for distribution.
