Getting Ready...

As you can imagine, getting things ready to go downtown is a big deal. There's foodbags to make, a fishmobile to organize, clothes to sort and label, hygeine kits to assemble, and a myriad other tasks just to make each week happen. The amazing thing is that most of this happens Sunday, the same day we set out to serve people! The picture above is an older picture of a youth group helping us assemble foodbags.
Even before we are able to do this stuff, we need to buy/collect the raw materials so to speak. Usually that involves time at Wal-Mart, that oft misaligned marketplace where quantity is job one. Things at Wal-Mart are great. you get a lot for a little, so I make it the place to buy the things BASIC needs. Every now and again, we can find something cheaper something else, or someone will need something that can't be found there at the store. I can still almost garauntee though that I'll be there at least twice a month spending between $200-$300 just on socks, saltines, workboots, and other things.
This last week I wasn't able to go downtown because I didn't have a group to help me, so I spent extra time getting some things the mission has been short on, especially work boots and socks. These things are important because many of the guys we work with Sunday Evening could have a job Monday morning if they could get ahold of a pair of steel toed work boots. So far, Wal-Mart has had the best prices at $21-$27 a pair, but even then, you could imagine that things would get very expensive very quickly. So we are starting a new campaign called "Sock it to the Homeless People" and "Give Homeless People the Boot". It's going to be a great ad campaign designed to meet one of our most serious needs. If your church doesn't support BASIC already, but you think they could get involved in this, let them know about BASIC, and give me their church address. We'll be mailing something out in the next 2 months!
Until Then,
Believe and Serve!
GB HOYT.