ACEY Group celebrates anniversary
SPECIAL TO I HI-: CHRONICLE
The ACEY Group, a group member of The
Women's Fund of Winston-Salem, celebrated its
fourth anniversary on Oct. 14 with a dinner at the
Village Tavern on Hanes Mall Boulevard. Dr.
Melicia C. Whitt-Glover served as the guest speaker.
It began with 12 charter members. Membership
has now grown to more than 25. In addition to sup
porting the mission of the Women's Fund of
Winston-Salem - which raises money Jo support
organizations and causes that help local women - the
AC FY Group has been very active in working with
organizations that bring about social change in the
lives of women and girls.
Submitted PtuKo
From left: Dr.
Melicia C.
Whitt-Glover
with members
T w a n a
W e 1 1 m a n -
Roebuck,
ACEY Group
President Dr.
Betty A.
Alexander and
Dr. Leila L.
Vickers.
Samaritan
from fhit?e H I
evident.
"It's pretty shocking to
think that Winston-Salem
would be number one on that
list, hut at the same time,
when we see the line at the
Soup Kitchen and we see our
numbers go up, it's not that
surprising to us." Kelly said.
Still, not everyone in the
community is buying into
the fact that hunger is a
problem here locally. Kelly
said, so Samaritan joined
forces with leaders at several
different local agencies to
host a hunger awareness
event Monday during its
busy lunch hour. The agency
representatives donned
aprons and acted as guest
servers.
"We want the community
to know that hunger is a very
serious issue and we are all
collaborating together to try
to serve folks who are in
need - that's the critical
thing," said Samaritan
Executive Director Sonya
Kurosky. "None of us can
do this by ourselves."
Clyde Fitzgerald, execu
tive director of Second
Harvest Food Bank of
Northwest NC and one of the
volunteer servers, said he
could readily attest to the
dire state of hunger in the
area.
The food bank, which
supplies partner agencies
such as Samaritan across an
18-county area, has more
Photo by Loty la Farmer
Shaun Sanders (right) and his brother, Anthony Blossom,
eat at the Soup Kitchen regularly.
than doubled its food distri
bution in the last two years.
The agency is now serving
300,000 people, as com
pared to 130,000 in 2008.
and still. "It's not enough,"
Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald noted that
although some of those the
food bank and the Soup
Kitchen serve are homeless,
the vast majority of them are
not .
"Sixty percent of their
guests are not homeless,
they just need food." he said
of the Soup Kitchen.
"Unemployment, and signif
icant underemployment, is
what's driving this intense
need."
WXI1 News Anchor
Cameron Kent and the other
Kitchen volunteers served
417 lunches Monday. It was
one of many 400+ atten
dance lunches the Soup
Kitchen has seen in the past
year. Kent is the figurehead
of the agency's annual
Penny Campaign and volun
leers at Samaritan several
times a year.
"i just think it's some of
the most important work that
is being done here in the
city," Kent said. "It's just
awful to be hungry. If
you're hungry, there's so
man) other things you can't
do."
Kent added that he hoped
the presence of the volun
teers Monday would help to
emphasize Samaritan's need
for financial support.
"I think a lot of people
think that the problem is
taken care of." Kent
remarked. "There are agen
cies in place, but donations
are down and need is up.
They need money, they need
volunteers."
City resident Reginald
Fullard was among the
grateful diners in attendance.
Fullard. a disabled veteran,
lives off his Social Security
Disability Insurance checks
and says he is often forced to
make the painful choice
between purchasing food
and (he 18 different medica
tions he takes to manage his
various health problems. He
admits he has "stretched" his
medications and even
skipped meals because he
simply could not make ends
meet. He said he was glad to
see the issue of hunger that
he knows so intimately final
ly get some attention.
"I think it's a very posi
tive event." said the father of
two. "We do need to height
en awareness. I think people
are in denial as to the grave
situation the economy is in
... everybody's got it bad."
Other volunteers who
took part in the event were
Joe Crocker, director of Kate
B. Reynolds Charitable
Trust's Poor and Needy
Division: Crisis Control
Ministry Executive Director
Margaret lilliott; Daisy
Rodriguez, director of
Childhood Hunger Programs
for Second Harvest NWNC:
and Winston-Salem
Foundation President Scott
Wierman.
To participate in the
Penny Campaign, bring
unwrapped coins to 110
Oakwood Drive ( across from
Thruway Shopping Center)
between 10 a.m. and 4:30
p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3.
For more information, visit
www.samaritanforsyth .org .
To volunteer with the
Kitchen, contact Volunteer
Administrator Julie Morrill
at 33 6 - 748-8207, ext. 21V.
Church celebrates
reading successes
SPEC 1A1 ro llll CHRONIC! E
The "A" Team Sunday School Class (for children up to
nine-years-old) of First Waughtown Baptist Church spon
sored a tea on Saturday. Oct. 15 to honor children that read
books over the summer.
The lower level of the church has been dedicated to the
late Christine Brown, the daughter of
Rev. and Mrs. William Brown.
who was hit by a car and killed ^
16 years ago. Christine's jfl
nickname was "Critter." H
Sunday School Teacher v
Midge Boulware started a read- 1
ing program - "Critter's Corner"
in memory of Christine, who^
was one of her students. |
Books were donated by
church members and friends. It cost S20 to be
a member of the Critter's Club. Church members joined and
the money raised was donated to Brenner Children Hospital
and St. Jude's Children's Hospital.
Boulware said the reading program has helped her stu
dents immensely.
"I can truthfully say that I saw an improvement in my
children's reading skills," she said. "My wish is that all
churches would start a Critter's Corner in their church to
encourage our children to read. Remember, it takes a village
to raise a kid."
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