Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers and benefactors for yet another wonderful year of service to those in need. One of the things that makes Hands That Serve such an awesome organization is that our benefactors know that over 98% of their donations go directly to the poor. Another factor that makes us special is the opportunity for you to get personally involved and see your dollars at work by joining us downtown and handing out lunches to the homeless at St. Vincent DePaul Catholic Church.
Hands That Serve originated as a feeding program in 2003. It was an idea suggested by our beloved founder Grandmaster Choa Kok Sui, who realized that when we use our hands to serve others we renew ourselves as well as those we serve. We are serving over 300 people each week through our lunch program in downtown St. Louis. This number is up 20% from last year. Cheeseburgers are our biggest expense at this time. We spend about $600 a week on cheeseburgers alone. It is our goal to negotiate a much better deal with Rally’s for 2011.
This was a year of special donations from unexpected outside sources.
Cor Jesu Academy included Hands That Serve in their annual Penny Queen fundraising event and gave us a check for $7,500. This is all thanks to the beautiful testimonial about volunteering for HTS, which was given by CJA student, Zoe Preis.
Hands That Serve was the designated charity for the memorial of James J. Lang Sr., more than $2,500 was raised in his honor.
Security Traders of St. Louis included HTS as a recipient of a $1,000 grant that they offer local charities. A special thank you goes to Dan Abkemeier and John Fechter for nominating our organization for this special grant.
We also received $800 from the Padmakara Charitable Foundation, which supports feeding programs around the world.
All of these special funds came at a time when individual donations were down by almost 20% from previous years.
Eight distressed families were able to move into decent, affordable housing in the past year, thanks to donations from Hands that Serve.
The Catholic Charities Housing Resource Center used the funds to pay security deposits and/or first month’s rent for these families. Were it not for the support of Hands that Serve, these families would have become homeless or would have continued living in shelters.
Since our last report in November2009, Hands that Serve has contributed an additional $6,000 to CCHRC and its clients. This brings the total donated since June 2007 to $17,400. To date we have helped 23 families move into stable and safe housing. The average grant is $659.08.
CCHRC helps each family find affordable and safe housing; create and use a realistic household budget; repair their credit; pay bills on time; save money; and work toward goals that promote lasting stability, such as obtaining a better job or pursuing additional education.
Donations from Hands that Serve have been vital during the past year, as the economic crisis lingered. Many people have lost jobs or experienced a cut in pay. Some were living in conditions so unsafe that their housing was condemned; others lost their home because of foreclosure. Several were homeless, living in their car or on the streets.
Hands that Serve has helped these families regain the dignity of having a decent place to live and raise their children. For example:
J. Jones and his wife are the parents of five girls, ages 1 to 9. They were living in an old and musty apartment – the best this family could afford on an annual income of about $16,000. In every room, paint was peeling off the ceilings or flaking off window sills or walls. The youngest children ultimately tested positive for lead paint poisoning. “Hands that Serve” gifts put down a security deposit on a rental unit that is safe and healthy.
Jones-James and her husband were doing everything they could to provide a stable home for their six young children. Her husband was working both a full-time and a part-time job to support the family. He brought home about $40,000 annually – barely enough to house, feed and clothe six children, ages 1 to 10. Then, their building was condemned because of sewage in the basement and rats. Leaving all their possessions behind, they entered the Gateway Homeless Services emergency shelter. CCHRC used Hands that Serve contributions to provide a security deposit and first month’s rent so the family could start over in a decent apartment.
T. Smith is a 77-year-old man who is the sole caretaker for his disabled daughter. His wife died in 2009. His own health is failing; he has been hospitalized several times in the past year. He fell behind on his mortgage payments after his wife’s death and was not able to catch up. Given his health problems and his daughter’s needs, Mr. Smith recognized that he could no longer take care of his house or bear the burden of making the mortgage payments. The bank foreclosed on the house over the summer. Thanks to funds from Hands that Serve, Mr. Smith and his daughter were able to move into a rental unit that is affordable and close to their doctor.
We at the Housing Resource Center sincerely thank “Hands that Serve” and its supporters for their compassion toward people in need. In these troubled times, our mission squarely depends on the generosity of people like you.
Scholarship money to the local Community Colleges in the Allied Health Profession brought new opportunities to 10 local area students in need of financial support. Here are a few examples of some of those we have assisted in the 2009-2010 school year.
Christina is 46 years old, recently divorced mother of four sons. She has been a stay at home mom who is in her first semester of the nursing program. Her income is limited to child support so she had no extra funds to purchase her books and supplies. The scholarship is helping her start out with the tools she needs to be successful. GPA 3.5
Marie was a first semester nursing student who was faced with the high cost of books and supplies associated with the program. As a single mother who is working towards providing a livable earning for her children, this scholarship has helped her to start her nursing education without the excess financial burden. GPA 2.95
Gregory is a single father of two who used the funds to pay for tuition for his EMT program. Having lost his job nine months ago, he realized he needed an education in an area that would not be dependent on the economy. He has completed his EMT certification and has enrolled in the paramedic program. GPA 2.77
Tierra used the funds to help with tuition. Being a single mother and enrolled in the dental hygiene program full time, doesn’t leave her much time to work. GPA 3.3
Daryl has gone back to school to get his degree in the Medical Technology program. A laid off auto worker and father of three, he is enjoying the opportunity to learn a new field. These funds have taken a financial burden off of him and his family.
Thanks to the creativity and skill of Mary Bowman, Hands That Serve has a website and a page on Facebook. Our website address is www.handsthatserve.com. Please visit our site for further information and to spread the word to family and friends about service and tithing opportunities at Hands That Serve. We are always in need of volunteers to serve lunch at St. Vincent Depaul Catholic Church in downtown St. Loius. Lunch is served from 11am to 1pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Call Terese Syberg at 314-324-3507 (Friday) and Zelta Avion at 314-825-0842 (Saturday) to volunteer.