Need By Need

The following is a thank you from Loaves & Fishes for Need by Need’s assistant in obtaining new flooring.

Dear Friends of Loaves and Fishes,

For the last several years, the women and children who call our shelter home have had to live with very old and stained carpet that honestly was not as sanitary as it really needed to be. We have had to make some tough decisions on how to spend our funds and as a result, carpet and tile replacement has always gotten bumped for more pressing needs like food and clothing and keeping the lights on. In providing the much-needed funds to replace our carpet and tile you have done a great service to not only our staff and volunteers but for the children who crawl and play on our floors and for their mothers who call our shelter home. We cannot thank you enough for your generosity and faithfulness in giving to meet this great need and look forward to partnering with you in the future to meet the needs of the less fortunate we seek to serve each day as we serve Christ.

Sincerely,

Debbie Push
Executive Director
Loaves and Fishes for St. Louis, INC.

If you would like to continue to support Loaves & Fishes, you can reach Ms. Push through her email addresses of Debbie AT loavesandfishes-stl.org or visit their contact page here.

Thanks again to everyone who gave money towards helping purchase new flooring for Loaves & Fishes. In the past month, they have installed the new carpet and tile that your donations helped to purchase.

Through your donations, Loaves & Fishes was able to replace the carpet as well as install tile in a new children’s area they had just built.

In case you forgot what the old carpet looked like, here is a picture:

Thanks again for all your help and check back soon for more updates.

At the end of August, about two dozen volunteers from Grace Church’s Student Ministry helped spread mulch in Loaves and Fishes’ playground (More information and pictures here).

Here is a thank you from Loaves and Fishes to all those volunteers who helped make it happen:

To the Student Ministries of Grace Church,

On behalf of Loaves and Fishes, the poor and the homeless we serve I would like to personally thank all of you for spending your day here at the shelter in volunteer service. You did a wonderful job in spreading of the mulch, in the general clean up of our children’s shelter playground and in the stocking of our food pantry items. We were very excited to see so many students participate in this day of service! You as volunteers are a very important part of the foundation of our ministry….each worker enables us to continue to reach out to those less fortunate on a daily basis. Finally, and with our sincere thanks, we pray that God richly blesses you all.

Deborah Push, Executive Director
Loaves and Fishes Charity

Because of an unexpected gift from the members of Kingdom Community Church International, we have met our original goal of raising $1,000 which will cover the cost of the stove repairs and the mulch!

However, we feel that we should continue to raise additional funds to help Loaves & Fishes with another need. In addition to the stove repairs and mulch, one of their dormitories is in desperate need of new carpet. The current carpet has been there for eight years and is worn out and heavily stained. At this point, replacement is the only viable option.

Replacing the carpet would benefit the women and children who call the dormitory “home” each night.

An estimated cost of buying and installing new carpet in this dormitory area is also $1,000.

If you would like to help purchase new carpet to make the living conditions at Loaves & Fishes more enjoyable for the women and children that this organization serves, please click on one of the donation buttons located above or below to help fulfill this need.

[UPDATE: Need Fulfilled as of 12/15/09. Be sure to check out the "Blog" for more information.]

We would like to thank everyone who has already given money towards repairing Loaves & Fishes’ stove or towards purchasing mulch for their playground. If any money remains after the repairs and mulch have been paid for, the remainder will go towards paying for the purchase and installation of the carpet. Thanks again and please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Meagan Sawtelle, a student from the University of South Carolina, recently created a video for her class about Need by Need. After submitting it for her class, she has graciously given us a copy to place here on our website. In the video, Need by Need Project Coordinator Georgina Wilson and I are interviewed along with the Executive Director of The Women’s Shelter.

The video discusses why Need by Need was formed as well as touching on our successful fulfillment of The Women’s Shelter’s need.

The video runs roughly 5 and 1/2 minutes and if you have the ability, click on the “HQ” (High Quality) button near the volume for better video and audio quality.

Also, be sure to read the letter from The Women’s Shelter thanking all those who helped fulfill their need.