Samaritan House News
Winter 2010-11

Our 7th year of operation and coming into our 8th year at Samaritan House has shown us just how important it is that we are here and blessed to be in this mission the Lord has called us to!
Helping families get through times of tough financial crisis is why we are here. There are so many right here in our county who need our help and your donations are what keeps this mission doing the work we are called to do!
People living under the Poverty Line in Chautauqua County is at 17.7% This means that 23,630 people in our County are below the Poverty Line!
Think about that! 23,630 People!! It is a great possibility that some of these folks are your neighbors!

We have had a great time with work teams coming to help out! November brought us a team from Mission Meadows comprised of kids from all over the country. What an amazing group of workers!!

We will be going out to Churches and Organizations to promote our mission of helping families at Samaritan House.
If your organization or church would like to host our presentation please contact our office at 716-962-2246, or email us at info@samaritanhouse.us or through our website www.samaritanhouse.us

We would like to THANK all our partners for their financial support commitments!
THANKS to:
Gerry Free Methodist, Kiantone Congregational, Kidder Memorial UMC, Park UMC, South Stockton Wayside Chapel, South Ripley UMC, The Beacon Church, and many individuals who partner with us also.
Without your help, financially, we would be hard pressed to keep the doors open to help all the families that need Samaritan House!

Samaritan House Needs:
FUNDS
VOLUNTEERS
MAINTENANCE

As we enter a new year, we look forward with hope and joy as the LORD supplies all our needs according to His riches in Glory!

Thanks for your continued prayer support!

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Blessings for the New Year
from your Samaritan House Team!
Maureen, Della&Larry, Joyce,
Christine, Vanessa&Scott, Bronwyn,
Aimee, Polly, Brett, Brian.

Samaritan House
Summer 2010

Matthew 25:35-46 (Amplified Bible)
35For I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged Me, 36I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me.
37Then the just and upright will answer Him, Lord, when did we see You hungry and gave You food, or thirsty and gave You something to drink? 38And when did we see You a stranger and welcomed and entertained You, or naked and clothed You? 39And when did we see You sick or in prison and came to visit You?
40And the King will reply to them, Truly I tell you, in so far as you did it for one of the least [in the estimation of men] of these My brethren, you did it for Me.
Are we being doers of this Word?
Donations are pouring into our Shed and our Sorting Rooms! We are so grateful for all the opportunities to help the “least of these, His Brethren”, who are OUR Brethren, with clothing. We have a constant need for appliances, beds, and dressers. So many families are having a hard time finding these items, and our stockroom is empty right now. There is also great need for these same items at our North County Branch. PLEASE! If you have unused furniture or appliances, remember the needs of our neighbors!
Building Maintenance is an ongoing process! We are housed in this beautiful historic building that is in need of constant care. Preserving some of the historical value of the building and upgrading certain energy issues is quite challenging! The main challenge being, funds to purchase materials for upkeep. We have a new opportunity for labor-free workers coming to help out with some energy issues from Chautauqua Opportunities. Our cost will be for materials such as windows, paint, drywall, light fixtures, etc. As we receive estimates for materials we will send out updates for opportunities for you to be a part of helping this mission to have a safe and energy updated building.

Missions Teams from Florida came to western NY in June to bless us with their skills of hands on ministry! You may have seen the article in the Post Journal about them and what they did while they were here. Samaritan House wasn’t mentioned in the article, but we had teams here from the 14th -17th of June doing work in the basement and around the building. The teams finished our sewing area in the basement which entailed tearing out a platform and scrubbing and painting walls, installing work areas and a counter unit. Staining the stairway and railings at our backside exit was finished. Their handiwork was much appreciated!
Shoes & Clothing to Nashville was packed into the truck & off we went to deliver them to Hickman County families who were flooded out last month. So many places can use our help and we are so glad we have an abundance to share! David and I enjoyed our family reunion in Nashville and then visited friends in other areas of Tennessee. The load we took down was received with Great Thanks!!! The woman that was running the giveaway warehouse had been flooded out herself and she was so grateful to receive our donations! As we meandered our way back home we met with folks in Liberty Kentucky who were also flooded out during that tragic storm. People that we never hear about from our media are in need of help!
Remember Samaritan House as you are cleaning out your households and having yard sales or just need to find a place to give unwanted useable items around the house!
Volunteers: If you have a heart to help, please stop by or call. Many hands are needed to do what we do here at Samaritan House. We reach out much farther than Chautauqua County with our donations that are pouring in!
God Bless You as we Serve our Community!

Shoes for Haiti

January 2010

I would like to clear up a misconception about our DONATION SHED in the back parking lot.
We DO bring the donations into our building! When donations are placed in the DONATION SHED they DO NOT all leave the area, donations are subject to our discretion of needs inside the building. St. Pauly partners with and allows us to use the SHED for our donations, and in turn, we are able to send things to areas of the world that we were not able to before their partnership with us. St. Pauly also gives back into our mission $40 for every thousand pounds that goes out of the SHED.
The SHED is tended daily by our Volunteers who will scan the donations and bring things inside that we need to restock shelves and racks. Children’s clothing is always brought inside the building as well as bedding, which are our greatest need most of the time, and any other items that are needed at that specific time. Then the Volunteer will tie up the bags, bag the loose clothing and anything that comes in boxes must also be bagged and moved to the far end of the shed so that the entry shoot remains clear for more donations to be placed inside the SHED. Any items that are not bagged, such as household goods, which are not to be put in the SHED, but when they are, those items are brought inside the building. We’ve been very surprised sometimes at what has landed inside the SHED!
Inside the building our racks and shelves are sorted for seasonal changes. Anything that is out of season here will be bagged and placed in the DONATION SHED to be sent to specific climates for that season by St. Pauly.
Inside our sorting room clothing will be scanned for cleanliness, tears, zippers and buttons missing, etc. If an item is not suitable for wearing, it is either washed, or repaired or tossed into various bins for recycling. We throw out very little compared to what comes through our sorting rooms because we have found ways to recycle many things.
Our general rule for stock inside the building is this: IF YOU WOULDN’T USE IT OR WEAR IT… it’s not going on the racks!
We have various ways to recycle things we cannot use at Samaritan House. We have FREE Rag bins for anyone who needs rags. We send cotton shirts to be stripped for Rag Rug making, blankets and towels for pets and the SPCA’s use. Teddy Bears go to Salamanca for Burden Bears for our soldiers in the hospitals. We send many craft items to the Afterschool program, and to the Nursing Homes, via Sonshine Ministry, along with several items needed by their residents.
These are just a few of the many works in progress at Samaritan House. If you would like to learn more about what we do here, please come by and see if the Lord is calling you to be a part of this outreach mission! As you can see, there are many tasks to be done, but many hands make light work. We always need more hands at Samaritan House!

Last year was a year of Blessings financially, as well as outreach expansion.
Earlier this year we sent a truckload of shoes to Haiti. (Totally orchestrated by the Lord!) We are preparing to send more needed items this year.
God blessed us in so many ways, and through those blessings, we are able to bless others.

Our goals for 2010 are to be a blessing, and Do what He tells us to do, and Go where He tells us to go.
We are excited about what the Lord will do this year!

Please pray for us, and ask the Lord how you can be a blessing to your neighbors in need.

When we ask the question:
"what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Our answer is:
" 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Luke 10:25-27 the parable of the Good Samaritan

God Bless you as we love our neighbors!
The Samaritan House Team