Providing Aid In Our Local Communities
Danny Emmett and Denny Pyle
First of all, let me say "Thank You" once again for your tremendous heart and compassion in considering the needs of so many others in our local communities. As you are well aware, our recent hurricane crisis in the south and Gulf Coast areas has had a tremendous impact close to home as well. Thanks to the current influx of thousands of children and families in the Atlanta area, our office has been inundated with hurricane relief issues in the form of housing requests, food, clothing, transportation needs, and numerous people just calling to ask for advice and direction. We now have thousands of families in need as new neighbors and as it says in the book of Proverbs (3:28) "Do not say to our neighbor, 'Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow' — when we now have it with us." With this in mind, I would like to share with you some of our latest conditions here at HOPE worldwide-Georgia
As you already know, our HOPE worldwide-Georgia Community Outreach and Child Development Programs focus primarily on serving Georgia's hurting communities and those individuals living below the poverty line. Our after school and Saturday programs which serve hundreds of inner-city at-risk youth have seen a greatest impact as a result of the multitude of newly relocated families and children with program space becoming increasingly more valuable. To date, we have 43 additional children of displaced evacuees currently enrolled in our programs as new residents of Georgia with the promise of many more to come. Our policy has always been to never turn anyone away, but this year may mark the first time ever that we will be forced put a limit on the number of children that we allow into our doors.
On a similar note, our Feed the Homeless project at the Task Force For The Homeless Overflow Shelter continues to do very well. Thanks to the help of our Atlanta Church of Christ in Gwinnett, we hit an all time record in August with a total of 988 hot meals being served in one night. At our most recent dinner, the North East Gwinnett Church did an excellent job as we cooked and served twice the normal amount of meals. Our volunteers throughout the northeast have done an incredible job during this time of crisis and have really helped a great deal to defray the cost of food and supplies, but now the shelter is beyond maximum capacity and we have an even more daunting task in the coming months to handle the overflow of homeless residents that have relocated to our city.
In short, HOPE worldwide-Georgia is in desperate need! We do not have the resources on hand to endure the economic repercussions of multiple catastrophic events such as tsunami disasters and severe hurricanes. ALL FUNDING FROM LOCAL SOURCES HAS CEASED for our organization, including our corporate sponsors and many individual supporters as the media focus has turned everyone's attention to the national scene. We have made urgent requests from various sources to help relieve our immediate needs here in Georgia, but I fear that the financial assistance will not come soon enough. With this in mind, I ask that you all continue to keep us in your prayers.