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Easter Buffet brings more than 800 guests!
We had a wonderful time at this year's Easter Buffet!
Thanks so much to all of you who came out and had a special lunch with us.
We saw more than 811 people and raised over $7,000!
A special thank you goes out to Don Green and his Sodexo staff for preparing and serving an incredible meal!
Empty Bowls Project
a HUGE Success The third annual Empty Bowls Project was an unprecedented success raising $16,000 for hunger awareness both locally and internationally. Roughly 850 people attended the event throughout the day, almost double those who attended last year! Out of the 1,000 bowls on display at the event, only 175 were left when the doors closed. What an increidble success! We are beyond thrilled and excited to offer this news and we know we could not have done this without so many people. Special thanks to everyone who came out at any time on Thursday to make a donation, eat some soup and choose a bowl! We are thankful for those who painted bowls and those who helped us glaze and fire them! Special thanks to Debbie Morelock, Robin Nance and Kohler for firing our bowls in their kilns. Thanks to the schools and nursing homes who took time out of their schedule to paint bowls and to everyone who scheduled a group to paint here at GSM! We certainly could not have fed anyone without the wonderful soup and beans that were donated by our local restaurants and churches! All of the food was incredible! Special thanks go to all of the businesses that donated items to be sold in our "store" at the event and to those who purchased VIP tables! Howard Payne University has been our partner in this project for three years and, certainly, it would not be the success that it is without the university's partnership. They help plan and organize and provide most of the volunteers on the day of the event. Their help is indespensible! We would also like to thank the wonderful staff of the Brownwood Coliseum who set up and tore down tables and were so gracious to help us any time we needed them! And, of course, we could not have done any of this without our amazing sponsors: Big Country Ford Lincoln, Landmark Life, Texas Bank, TXU Energy and WalMart! Because of these sponsors, we were able to cover the cost of the event so that everything made on the day of the event would go directly into feeding people! Thank you all for your support, your prayers and your presence in making this event the success that it has become! Food Fight!
Join GSM in a good old fashioned Food Fight! During March and April, we are waging war against hunger in Brown County! Join us, won't you? Now would be a great time to hold a food drive, a fund drive or send a donation to any of our hunger ministries: Food Pantry, Food for Thought Program or the Deer Project. Everything we collect during March and April toward food, will count toward the annual Feinstein Challenge. Each year, entrepreneuer Alan Shawn Feinstein puts up $1 million of his own money as a challenge to food pantries across the country to raise awareness for hunger. The more money/food we raise locally, the greater portion of the $1 million we receive. Last year, we brought in $129,000 during March and April! This year we hope to raise $140,000! Every canned food item brought in during these two months will count as $1 per can! Please consider holding fund drives as well. Did you know that for $1 you can buy one, maybe two canned food items at the grocery store, but for that same $1, we can purchase almost 6 pounds of food! Also, as part of the two-month-long Food Fight, we'll also have our Empty Bowls Project and Easter Buffet! Don't miss out on your opportunity to support Good Samaritan Ministries and, most importantly, your friends and neighbors who have fallen on hard times. In 2011, GSM provided grocery staples to an average of 999 families per month! That was an all-time high for the ministry and we are already seeing an increase this year over last. The needs are great, but together we can affect change!
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