Living Water

Volunteer Christmas Party 2011

2011-12-06T08:48:00.001-08:00

Monday, December5, Living Water had their 2nd annual Volunteer Christmas Party. The amazing thing about that was it was in the middle of Borger's first snow storm of the season. Snow was still coming down sideways when our party started. We were amazed by our great turnout!

Prime Time Party Zone created our balloon decorations.

Prime Time Party Zone also created this balloon Christmas tree! Becky stood beside this tree to give you perspective of it's size. So cute!!

We had our party at Dake's restaurant and had a fajita bar. We also had an auction to raise funds for Living Water. It was so much fun!

We gave out our Living Legends awards.

Here, Gib Welch receives the "Wise Cracker" award.

Lacy De LosSantos and her guest. Lacy is one of our new volunteers.

George & Mary Jean Nies

Arnie, Cindy, Christian & Melody Torio and Micah Scheffler

Taylor, Selena & Jeff McClellan

Our snowman party favors.

Our 2nd annual Volunteer Christmas Party was a huge success!

Christmas Wish List

2011-11-29T07:42:00.000-08:00

Living Water's Christmas Wish List

MercyHand--$7500.00

MercyHand is a computer software that would not only benefit Living Water, but other agencies & churches in our community. This software tracks clients so we would know where each client is being helped and who has helped them and how much they've been helped. You can check it out here: MercyHand. Similar software is three times this price.

Projector & Screen--approx. $600.00

This would benefit our training classes.

We REALLY, REALLY want MercyHand!!

And we've been extra good--I promise!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-18T15:06:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving at Living Water begins weeks before the Friday we give out the food.

It begins with lots of volunteers packaging food for us.

It comes in one Bag of Blessing at a time by people in our community.

Volunteers spent weeks collecting boxes for us to use for our frozen food we gave away.

But this morning, boxes lined up from one end of the food room...

to the other end of the food room!

Cairl, our food room director, gave out directions early this morning.

And then George and Micah went and picked up the turkeys.

Volunteers gathered early this morning to pray over our morning.

We wanted everyone who came to be blessed.

Stephanie Spangler and Walgreens blessed us with free flu shots!

Lots of people took advantage of those free flu shots.

As we began our service, we asked for people to share what they were thankful for.

Then Mrs. Phyllis taught us all how to say "God is love" in sign language. It was beautiful to watch!

Here's Mrs. Phyllis signing as Thomas sings.

Dwight Kirksey, pastor of Celebration Family Church in Fritch, blessed us with a message this morning.

He told us about a cross he received for Christmas one year.

After the service, we began giving out the holiday groceries to about 120 families.

It was well organized and people didn't have to wait long.

We have some happy volunteers---they love blessing others!

And we had some new volunteers this morning. We're always excited about that!

We just can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone at Living Water. We want to thank everyone who participated--either by giving a Bag of Blessing or volunteering. It was a great day!

Truck Day

2011-10-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

Thursdays is Truck Day at Living Water. And I just wanted to give you a little window to see what we do up here on Thursdays.

We have some special ladies who bag things for us.

This is our truck driver, Al.

He is quite adept at moving a pallet of food. Micah delivers coffee and donuts to him when he gets here.

We have so many GREAT volunteers who come and help us!

They're ready to help with anything. In fact, some of these guys replaced 4' light bulbs for me today while we waited on the truck.

Lots of lifting goes on here on Thursdays.

And lots of carting around...

And we always end up with stacks of things to put up. I don't know what we'd do without our wonderful volunteers! They're the BEST!

Happy Birthday, Selena!

2011-10-11T07:14:00.001-07:00

After realizing that yesterday was Selena's birthday, our volunteers came in to sing "Happy Birthday" to her! I told them they needed to go on the road they sounded so good.

Happy Birthday, Ms. Selena!

What in the world would we do without you here at Living Water?

New Shirts

2011-10-11T07:01:00.001-07:00

Our new logo designed by Brock Plumley.

This past week, we got our new shirts with our new logo on them. We're pretty excited. And today our volunteers all showed up with their new shirts on, so I had to take their picture. Don't they look great?

New Volunteers

2011-10-06T09:38:00.001-07:00

We're always excited about new volunteers at Living Water. But today was extra-exciting! These three boys were on their way to the library with their aunt when they drove by and saw us unloading our food truck. They begged to stop and help! So they came in and helped put up some of our groceries...and then we found them other jobs to do.

From left to right: Nate, Tyler & Austin. They didn't mind pushing around a broom and cleaning our chapel.

Here they are with their Auntie Julie--what a crew!

I'm so excited these three brothers have a heart to help. I can't wait to see how God is going to use them when they get big. They're already off to a great start!

Wal-Mart Grant

2011-06-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

Recently, Living Water was awarded a grant of $1000 by the Wal-Mart Foundation. Derek Thompson presented the check to Becky Dietz, our Director, at our local Wal-Mart store. The grant was given to us as a participant in hunger relief in our area. We're proud to be a part of this great effort!

Vietnam Veterans

2011-06-15T17:00:00.001-07:00

Recently, the Vietnam Veterans Texas State Council met at Borger. We were contacted months ago and told that we'd been chosen to be the recipient of their Project Amigo. We couldn't be prouder! We are so grateful for the men and women who fought in this war. These people sacrificed so much for our nation. We'd like them to know they are OUR HEROES!

Our own local hero, George Nies, fought in the Vietnam War. George volunteers weekly at Living Water. We asked him to receive the prestigious Project Amigo gift to Living Water.

George told the council about the work we do at Living Water. As he spoke, I heard lots of responses in the crowd. It was a proud moment.

And George received the check from the Vietnam Veterans Texas State Council.

We were delighted to get a group photo of those giving this gift to Living Water.
Thank you, Vietnam Veterans and Associates of Vietnam Veterans of Texas! Your gift to us will help many lives in Hutchinson County.
And we are grateful.

Campaign

2011-03-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

Living Water is in the middle of our Alan Feinstein Foundation campaign. Anything (money or food) donated in the months of March & April will be applied to our application for part of the $1 million Alan Feinstein will be giving away to alleviate hunger in the United States.

How can you help? Every dollar given to Living Water in March & April will help us receive more funds through this foundation. Every pound of food given to Living Water will count as $1. So if you have a desire to give to Living Water, NOW'S THE TIME!!

We're so grateful for those who give and help. And we're grateful for programs like this which will help so many people.

Meet Selena

2011-03-03T14:33:00.000-08:00

Meet Selena McClellan!

She is the new Assistant Director at Living Water.

We're so glad to have her on board.

So when you call us, you may hear a new voice.

Please come by and meet her--

she'll want to put a face with that voice!

Feinstein Foundation Campaign

2011-01-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

The Feinstein Foundation founded by Alan Shawn Feinstein has a campaign to raise awareness and to help alleviate hunger in America. Their organization will donate funds to Living Water in proportion to the money and food received during March & April.

So....if you want to give a gift that will be greater than what you can give alone, this is a wonderful opportunity! Each item of food given to Living Water during this time will count as $1. So if you have a school, business or organization which would like to have a food drive for us, it won't just help fill our pantries; it will be applied for funds to be received from The Feinstein Foundation. Everyone can help!!

Please consider giving to Living Water March 1-April 30. Your money will go further--much further!

A letter from Alan Feinstein himself:

Please use MY money to help
your neighbors in need!
My name is Alan Shawn Feinstein. For the past 13 years, I have been giving away $1 million each year to anti-hunger agencies throughout the country.
This year, I am doing it again…
WHATEVER YOU DONATE TO THIS AGENCY,
I WILL ADD MONEY TO IT. THE MORE
YOU GIVE, THE MORE OF MY $1 MILLION
THEY’LL GET—THANKS TO YOU!
Why am I doing this? Because I believe each of us was put here on earth to do what we can to help those in need. You got this letter because we feel that YOU believe that, too.
This has become the greatest grass roots campaign ever to fight hunger in our country. Your donation makes you a partner in it with me!
My money started this campaign but it is YOU who will help decide how many needy people in your city or town will be fed this year. All that will matter to us someday is what we did while we were here to help those who needed us.
We Are Needed Now!
Please give whatever you can - I will gladly add some of my money to yours. (My $1 million will be divided in full proportionately among
the agencies receiving donations toward my offer.)
Thank you for sharing my heart, and the hope that—someday—no one will ever go hungry.

Sincerely Yours,
Alan Shawn Feinstein

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2010-12-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

We had over 250 Bags of Blessings donated to Living Water this year--outstanding!

Maria Guevara blessed us with some special treats at Christmas.

We handed out our Christmas groceries in the SNOW! It really was fun!!

We had all hands on deck.

Our own Santa---braved the snow for us!

Merry Christmas to the friends of Living Water!! We are so grateful for everyone who has blessed Living Water this year--whether it was through bringing a load of clothing, a Bag of Blessings, volunteered, or made a donation. It's been an EXCEPTIONAL year at Living Water! We've added a number of volunteers this year--including some former clients. That blesses our hearts. We've seen donations from new friends. But most importantly, we've had 68 people give their lives to Christ this year through this ministry!!
We just want to thank you for your involvement. Please pray for us in the coming year. We want to do everything to the praise of His glory!
If you intend to make an end-of-the-year donation to Living Water, please mail it to us at 103 W. 4th St., Borger, TX 79007 to arrive in our mailbox on December 30. Our office will be closed the week of Dec. 27-31.

Thank you, again, for all you do for Living Water. We pray each of you are blessed in 2011!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Becky Dietz

Living Water's Volunteer Appreciation Christmas Party

2010-12-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

Living Water had their first-ever Volunteer Appreciation Christmas Party this past Thursday, December 2nd. It was so much fun! So we thought we'd share some photos of this event with you.

This was the Christmas tree we put up in our chapel--where we had our party. We'll be having a drawing to give it away to one of our clients at our Christmas Food Distribution.

Debbie Chowins made cookies for our party.

We thought they were so cute--but they were also delicious!

David & Lindsey Dietz catered and served for the evening.

The decorations were really pretty.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Gib Welch (right) was honored during the evening for being the Volunteer of the Year for the Panhandle of Texas!

Micah Scheffler was honored for being our youngest volunteer of 2010.

Jess Bonner (head of table) was our resident auctioneer for our auction later in the evening. Our volunteers brought gifts to be auctioned and the proceeds went to Living Water.

More guests

Burton & Janice Williams

Clarence McDaniel (left) was honored for his 8 years of serving on the Living Water Board of Trustees. He's been a huge asset.

We had salad, brisket, beans, baked potatoes, bread and apple dumplings at our meal.

Lindsey serving the guests

God's Country entertained us for the evening

Their band consists of Stu Denton, Sonny Clayton, Jodie Brock, Jeff Walker and Tommy Birch.

We heard some Christmas and gospel favorites.

It was such a fun night that I think we'll make it an annual event!

Holiday Bag of Blessings

2010-10-27T10:18:00.000-07:00

Living Water is starting their Holiday Bag of Blessings campaign. We ask you to fill a bag with the items below in the quantity indicated and bring it to Living Water by Friday, November 12. This bag will be given during our holiday food hand-outs to the less fortunate of Hutchinson County. This way, everyone can enjoy a great holiday meal! Living Water is located at 4th & Main in Borger. Come to the door with the arch on 4th Street, Monday-Thursday from 9-3.

HOLIDAY BAG OF BLESSINGS

Instructions: Purchase the items below in the quantity indicated.
Place the purchased items in a grocery bag and return it to Living Water (103 W. 4th St.)
before Friday, November 12.

CAKE MIX 1 BOX Any Flavor
WALNUTS or PECANS 1 PKG.
JELL-O 1 Small Box Any Flavor
INSTANT POTATOES 1 BOX
MINIATURE MARSHMALLOWS 1 SMALL BAG
BROWN SUGAR 1 LB. BOX
STOVE TOP STUFFING 1 BOX
CANNED PUMPKIN 1-15 OZ. CAN
SUGAR 2 LB. BAG
CAKE FROSTING 1 CAN
FRIED ONION RINGS 1-3 OZ. CAN
CHICKEN BROTH 1-14 OZ. CAN
YAMS 1-15 OZ. CAN
CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP 1-10 OZ. CAN

Thank you and may God bless you!

Some Great Guys!

2010-10-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

We have some guys who will go to any length to help us out at Living Water!!

We got a new freezer today and had to do some major shifting around to make it fit! And when you shift things around, you find things like this. Cairl Horst is quite the guy to clean up our gummy messes!!

We had to move our volunteers refrigerator into the break room to make the new freezer fit in our food room. It was quite a task!

George Nies is the former owner of Montgomery Wards in Borger. So he's a pro at moving heavy items. And we're so grateful he kept his dolly from those days!

But look at this new chest freezer---it has dividers in it! And something Gib Welch always wanted for our food room. We can't wait for him to see it!

Costume Photo Opportunity

2010-10-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Do you have a little angel you'd like to have photographed this Halloween? This is the perfect
opportunity for you! Images Photography is offering a free 4x5 photo of anyone in a costume Monday, October 25 through Wednesday, October 27th at 423B West 10th St in Borger, TX from 4-8 p.m. All you have to do is bring a non-perishable food item which will be donated to Living Water!! And...if you'd like to purchase 2-5x7's, it's only $10--and Images Photography will donate $3 of that to Living Water!

Get your little angel's photo taken and help out Living Water all at the same time!

Help Wanted--Food!

2010-09-20T10:58:00.001-07:00

Living Water has a need. We purchase our food from High Plains Food Bank in Amarillo at a reduced rate. Right now, we're not able to get a lot of the things we need from them--their supply is low! If you have a group who is looking for a project, we'd love for you to help us. We need about 100 of the same items. We can use basic supplies like flour, sugar, margarine or packaged products like egg noodles, Hamburger Helper, or crackers. We could also use snack items like animal crackers, cookies or Pop Tarts. Anything will help! We're still able to get some of the canned vegetables..but could use canned meats. It will help us so much if we get 100 of the exact same thing.

If you have any questions, just give us a call at 274-6434. THANKS!!

Betty Wins!!

2010-09-18T08:58:00.001-07:00

Betty Terry

Yesterday, Betty Terry, Gracie Boyett & Mary Jean Nies attended the High Plains Food Bank conference with me in Amarillo. It was very informative. In fact, we learned some things that we'll be implementing in our ministry in the coming days.

At the end, they always have a drawing for some great prizes. They've learned that our ministires love a good dolly! We hadn't gotten our tickets for the drawing, so I found the man who held the tickets---and he only had four left! Perfect. And the first name they called was "Betty Terry!" She chose a dolly for Living Water. We're so excited---and we know our guys are going to be thrilled. Betty offered rides around the building for $1 to try and make a little money for us, too. Way to go, Betty!!

Veterans of Foreign Wars--Adobe Walls Post #1789

2010-09-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

This morning, we had a great honor at Living Water. The Adobe Walls Post #1789 Veterans of Foreign Wars brought a check to us in the amount of $1000! They told us that they support what we're doing in our community. And we're just as proud of what they've given and sacrificed for our nation.

God bless you guys!!

Memorial Gifts

2010-08-31T07:28:00.001-07:00

Did you know that you can give memorial gifts through Living Water? If there's been a death in your family or a friends' family, it's a great way to remember that person. It honors that person by helping others. Living Water helps the less fortunate in Hutchinson County with food, clothing, financial assistance, school supplies and Christmas gifts. So when you give a memorial, it's an investment that gives over and over to others. We send a very nice letter to the family or families to let them know of your gift. You can also send a gift in honor of someone you love or respect.

Gib Welch Preaching

2010-08-27T08:55:00.000-07:00

Each week, we have a different speaker from our supporting churches preach at our food service. This is Gib Welch sharing his heart at today's service. We love Gib!

Kids & Backpacks

2010-08-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

Anna, Rachel & Aaron Madden helping distribute backpacks to kids

Living Water gave away over 130 backpacks to kids in Hutchinson County this week! These backpacks were filled with supplies the kids will need as they start to school. We're so grateful to Sherry Wingate for spearheading this project and for the many wonderful volunteers that helped make it happen. Lots of kids will be starting school in style.

2010 School Supplies for the Classroom

2010-08-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

This year, Living Water embarked on a new project. Hutchinson County probation office had always provided school supplies for the teachers' classrooms but because of new state rules, they were no longer able to do it. So they asked us if we'd take it on...and we have. This week, we have given school supplies to the teachers of Hutchinson County for their classrooms. Lots of supplies.

We certainly wanted them to feel welcome at their new spot, so we appealed to their sweet tooth!

They were able to take what they thought they'd need. All we asked is that they left enough for those coming behind them.

We had things for preschoolers and all the way up to high schoolers.

Lots of things!

Our aim was to have some happy teachers...and I think we accomplished that goal!

By the way, teachers, we intend to stock school supplies all year long, so when you run out, come on back!

Wesley United Methodist Kids Help!

2010-06-21T06:56:00.000-07:00

This week, we had a group of kids from Wesley United Methodist Church help us out! They were recently confirmed and as a social service project, they collected clothing and brought it to us.

These were a great group of kids!! And the best thing about it is that some of them cleaned out their own closets and donated their own things to us. Thanks, guys! And I loved the stoles you made.

2010-06-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

Living Water has become a participant in the Ample Harvest project. If you are growing a vegetable garden this summer and have vegetables you'd like to share with others, please consider bringing them to Living Water at 103 W. 4th Street in Borger---and we'll be sure and share them those who have a need!!

Fans Wanted!

2010-05-24T12:37:00.000-07:00

As summer approaches, we are going to need fans to give to the families in our area who don't have air conditioners in their homes. We usually start having a call for them at this time of year--all the way through the summer. If you have a fan you're not using, would you consider donating it to Living Water? Or you can donate funds and we'll do the purchasing for you! Thank you!

CURVES WINS!!

2010-05-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

The ladies of Curves delivered the food in grocery baskets to Living Water.

Curves of Borger was recognized by Curves International as a winner in the company’s nationwide fundraising campaign to help food banks in local communities. Throughout the month of March, Curves of Borger raised over 16,409 pounds of food that was given to Living Water Benevolence Ministry to provide food to needy families in Hutchinson County. The final results raised by the Curves of Borger surpassed the goals set by owner, Clesta Collins. “We set a goal of collecting 1500 pounds and $200 which is the most we ever collected and would have been a “high water” mark for us. I had no idea that we could collect this amount and I still stand in amazement,” Collins said.

The drive had every Curves club in the country competing against each other,in a friendly competition to see which club could receive the most donations. To make the drive even more appealing to local members, Curves of Borger had a friendly competition between themselves, the three Curves clubs in Amarillo, and even the Sunday School Classes at First Baptist Church competing against each other. On the amount of support provided by the community, Collins said, “I think one of the reasons so many helped out is simply the people of Borger are generous and we are a caring community. But most importantly, I think it is the unmerited favor of God, we committed it to Him and He blessed it.”

The Clothing Room of Living Water

2010-04-20T09:04:00.000-07:00

For those of you who have never been to Living Water, we wanted to give you a peek inside our clothing room and tell you about that part of our ministry. We receive our clothing from our community. When people clean out their closets, we are the beneficiaries. We ask for gently-used, clean clothing that is in season. We just don't have the space to store clothing from season to season. We receive those donations Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at 103 W. 4th Street in Borger.

Zella McKinney is our clothing coordinator. She works tirelessly in our clothing room, sorting clothing into sizes and hanging it on our racks to make it easier for our clients to shop.

As you can see, our clothing room rivals any department store in town. We have about 4 volunteers that give of their time to keep it well-organized.

We have sizes from newborns to adults. We're always in need of children's clothing and men's jeans.

Our clients are allowed to shop once a month and are able to get as much as is available in the sizes for which they are shopping. Of course, in case of an emergency (such as a fire), our clothing room is available to help those in need.

And the best thing? It's all FREE!

And nothing is ever wasted or thrown away. If we can't use it, we send it to a Christian school in San Antonio who sells clothing to raise tuition for their students. And if they can't use it, they send it to Mexico. Our goal is to offer clothing that is in style and fashionable--something we would wear ourselves. I hope you've enjoyed a peek inside this ministry!

The Feinstein Foundation

2010-04-13T08:03:00.000-07:00

THE FEINSTEIN FOUNDATION

The Alan Feinstein Foundation will divide $1 million among anti-hunger agencies nationwide who raise support for their agency from March through April of 2010. Donations can include cash, checks and food items as long as they are given through this challenge. So if you have considered donating funds or food to Living Water, please consider doing it before the end of April so we can apply for these funds! THANK YOU!

Food From CURVES!

2010-04-05T08:03:00.000-07:00

Today was the day! Curves delivered over 7558 lbs. of food to Living Water. This is the result of a contest they had. In addition to the food drive, they collected $1770.10 which equals 8950 lbs. of food. We are AMAZED with what people in Borger will do to help others. Thank you, Curves! And thank you, Borger, for your help!!

Becky Dietz, director of Living Water, and Clesta Collins, owner of Curves.

It's a convoy! The ladies from Curves walked the food to Living Water.

Clesta Collins, the owner of Curves, brings up the rear with the EOC guarding and escorting them.

These are the wonderful ladies from Curves who hand-delivered the food to Living Water. Thanks, girls!! (You look great, by the way!)

Oops! One little mishap--a cart got away from us. But we didn't cry over spilled beans.

The Living Water guys stepped in to help the Curves ladies pick up the spilled beans.

These are the wonderful Living Water volunteers who gave a morning to come help receive the food from Curves. Thanks, Guys!

Food safely in Living Water and ready to load on our shelves. Thanks again, Curves!! (We're waiting to hear if our Curves won the contest among other Curves!!)

Ameco Gives to Living Water

2010-04-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Ameco came to Living Water with some groceries! We were so blessed. They did a great job of getting a lot of one thing---which helps us make sure everyone gets the same thing in their bags each week. They brought lots of macaroni and cheese and instant potatoes!

THANK YOU, AMECO!! What a blessing!

Alabama Youth Group

2010-03-14T14:06:00.000-07:00

Phil Yarbrough, who grew up in Borger, brought his youth group from Crosspoint Family Church in Madison, Alabama to volunteer at Living Water today. While Phil tried to get our new computer connected to our printer, the kids and other sponsors did a lot of clean-up around our building!

Lots of floor cleaning went on.

And some great fun!

We had several people cleaning upholstery on chairs.

Vacuuming and dusting...

Plant cleaning, dusting, mopping...

More upholstery cleaning...

Window cleaning--inside & out!

And these guys actually volunteered to clean our 3 bathrooms! They would have made their mama's proud!!

What a great group of young people. Not only were they hard workers, but they were very mannerly and lots of fun. Thanks guys for making Living Water one of your ministry stops.

We were blessed.

Psalm 23

2010-03-12T09:41:00.000-08:00

This year, we began giving prizes each week to people for memorizing a Bible verse. At first, only one or two would even try it. But as time progressed, lots of people were trying. In fact, this week, we had about 14 people who memorized and quoted Psalm 91:2. Over the past few weeks, we were memorizing Psalm 23...one verse at a time.

Last week, I told our crowd that anyone who could quote the entire chapter of Psalm 23, word perfectly, in one sitting, they would receive a nice prize. This lady took me up on it! She quoted Psalm 23 word perfectly and received a gift certificate to Pizza Duo. Way to go, Lisa!!

Some Great Volunteers

2010-03-10T07:57:00.001-08:00

We always have great volunteers at Living Water, but I wanted to introduce you to a few from last Friday.

From left to right: Sandra Keys, LaNell White and Janice Williams. These ladies are regular volunteers who register our clients each Friday on Food Distribution Day---with a smile, I might add.

And these two were one-time volunteers this past Friday. Ryan & Addie Dietz came to show us how easy it is to memorize an entire chapter from the Bible. They quoted Psalm 23 for us and did an outstanding job! They were quite the motivators for the rest of us. (And cute, to boot!)

Dresses!

2010-03-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

Do you have a prom dress or wedding dress hanging in your closet? You would make someone's day by donating it to Living Water! We usually get some very out-of-style dresses before prom and before summer weddings, but it would be so nice to have some that are stylish available. Why just let it hang in your closet when you could help someone less fortunate? (Unless, of course, you're planning on passing your wedding dress on to your daughter.) There are so many young women who could never afford something really nice. And hey! If you have a veil or the shoes that match---even better!!

Did you know....

2010-03-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

...that if you are employed by or retired from ConocoPhillips that you can volunteer at Living Water and we'll be compensated with $500 for every 20 hours you give us--up to 40 hours?

...that if you are employed by ConocoPhillips and if you give a monetary gift to Living Water that ConocoPhillips will match that gift up to $15000 individually per year?

...that if you are retired from ConocoPhillips and if you give a monetary gift to Living Water that ConocoPhillips will match that gift up to $7500 individually per year?

Help Curves Help Living Water!

2010-02-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

Curves is once again having a food drive for Living Water. But...the incentive is even stronger this year. Curves of Borger is in a friendly competition with several of the Curves in Amarillo. I happen to know the people of Borger have the biggest hearts!!

And Curves International has sweetened the pot. They are giving $1000 to the food pantry of the winning Curves' choice. And Curves in Borger has chosen Living Water!!

You don't have to be a member of Curves to help us out in this competition. Take canned food or non-perishable foods or cash to our Borger Curves at 515 N. Main from March 1-31. It must go to Curves to count for the competition. Help us win! I know we can do this!! And would you please help us get the word out? We want to win! (We love a good competition!)

Of course, we love a good competition and want to win, but the people we help at Living Water will be the true winners!

ConocoPhillips E&P Lower 48 Donation

2010-02-24T11:58:00.000-08:00

Today, Rhonda & Todd Hutton came by Living Water with a donation of $1500.00 from ConocoPhillips E&P Lower 48. This money will be used for our Food Distribution Program. We are very thankful for the help with this program.

Becky Dietz, Director of Living Water accepting a check from Todd Hutton from ConocoPhillips.

Becky Dietz gratefully accepting a check for $1500 from ConocoPhillips E&P Lower 48 from Rhonda & Todd Hutton.

Volunteer--Cairl Horst

2010-02-23T07:17:00.000-08:00

Living Water is full of great volunteers, but I'd like to feature a special one today. Meet Cairl Horst. Cairl is a faithful volunteer here at Living Water. You'll find him filling grocery bags, unloading the Food Bank truck, changing those hard-to-change flourescent lightbulbs, weed-eating, encouraging other volunteers, singing, giving hugs at the front door on Fridays, and....

...shoveling sidewalks after it snows!

I asked for a small path in front of our building today (which is our clothing give-away day) and he did that and then came all the way around the side of the building. Cairl doesn't do anything half-way! I can't imagine Living Water without Cairl Horst--I really appreciate him!

New Floor!

2010-01-17T15:08:00.001-08:00

We're so grateful for our new floor in the chapel at Living Water. So many people made it come together. There were those who donated the flooring and then there were those who put it down. We couldn't have done it without the help of everyone!

These are the three guys who started laying the floor--Chris McCollum, George Nies and John Quigley. They began their work on a Saturday--and it was finished on Wednesday! Wow! (And they told me to tell you they don't hire out. ha!)

It took a lot to get it started. They said it was the hardest part. Our building isn't exactly square....about 8 inches wider in one corner!

Here, George is pointing out to Andy what they did to get it lined up.

Duane Snyder, George and John did the biggest part of the job. But you can see another kind of job going on in the background---Gib is getting our food ready for Friday.

Duane was on his knees a lot.

And thankfully, there were no injuries on the job!

John & George are chiseling out a door so the floor will fit.

On Tuesday, we moved clothing registration to the office area.

And then we all shared lunch together. The first activity on our partially-layed floor.

George & John did the sawing outside on Main St.

And here it is with about 3/4 of the floor laid.

Almost done!! Micah brings more flooring to John, Duane and George. These guys worked hard! We're so indebted to their hard work and big hearts!

The finished product to follow....

EGG CARTONS!

2010-01-15T05:49:00.001-08:00

Living Water is in desperate need of egg cartons. If you've been saving some up, could you drop them off at Living Water, Mon-Thurs from 9-3. And the sooner the better! The food bank sent eggs to us in crates instead of cartons this week and we can't hand them out until we have some cartons to put them in! THANKS!

ConocoPhillips Employees

2010-01-13T08:55:00.000-08:00

Living Water has been informed that ConocoPhillips is instituting a new program that encourages and supports its employees in community involvement. We're so excited! Living Water is eligible as a 501 (c)(3) organization. Here is an outline of their new program:

We are pleased to inform you that, effective January 1, 2010, we are expanding our employee giving programs, providing employees and retirees more opportunities to give back to their communities.

Matching Gift
Our Matching Gift program will expand to match employee gifts to eligible 501(c)(3) organizations dollar-for-dollar, up to $15,000, and retiree gifts dollar-for-dollar, up to $7,500 annually. Previously, the program matched gifts to accredited educational institutions only.

Employee Volunteer Grants “Dollars for Hours”
ConocoPhillips will donate $500 for every 20 hours an employee or retiree volunteers with an eligible 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Additionally, teams of four or more employees or retirees may apply for a team grant of $1,000 to an eligible organization.

So...if you're a ConocoPhillips employee, please consider getting involved in this new program. Living Water would LOVE to have you involved with us!

WELCOME CELEBRATION FAMILY CHURCH

2010-01-11T09:36:00.000-08:00

We want to welcome Celebration Family Church in Fritch as another supporter of Living Water. We're so excited to have them on board! Dwight Kirksey is the pastor of this church and they are situated on Broadway St. in Fritch. They are very easy to find and we hope you'll check them out---I know they would love to have you!!

HEATERS NEEDED!

2010-01-08T08:58:00.000-08:00

I've had several people calling Living Water asking if there are any heaters available because THEY'RE COLD!!

If you have an extra heater you're not using or would like to purchase one (or two or three...) and donate it to Living Water so we can give it away, please bring it by Monday-Thursday from 9-3.

THANKS!

Christmas has come & gone....

2009-12-18T11:19:00.001-08:00

...here at Living Water! We had our toy give-away last week and today was our Christmas food give-away. Because our Thanksgiving crowd was so large, we decided to pre-register families so we'd know what to expect today. We ended up helping 92 families--it was a good day.

Andy Dietz was our guest preacher for the day. He spoke about receiving God's gifts--according to His riches in glory. It was very impactful. About 7 people gave their lives to Christ!

Cyndy Lyons-Hall took a lot of our photos today. This is from the back of the crowd as I (Becky) am giving last-minute instructions.

We had a great system down that Gib (our food supervisor) came up with at Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, Gib had surgery this week and wasn't able to be with us. But George, Cairl and Duane stepped in and had it well organized today. We have the best volunteers in the world! No joke.

We were blessed with lots of volunteers who helped us fill the grocery baskets and take them to the cars of our clients. Duane filled baskets from the back of our truck. We had an assembly line going.

Liz Holt & Melody Torio were making sure turkeys and other refrigerated products made it into each basket.

Dennis, Jess & Donny made sure this sweet family was taken care of.

Andy is visiting with our registrars at the end of the morning. Each friday, these women register our clients and then fill out extensive records at the end of the day.

Today, we had a drawing for 2 completely decorated Christmas trees and 1 fresh tree with all the trimmings! These women won this tree and are dismantling it to take it home.

This was the 2nd tree that was won in the drawing. I think they were excited to get it home! (Side note: We called about 6 different names as winners, but those winners declined so someone who really needed a tree could get it! We serve people with great hearts!)

All the time we're taking care of people with food in the chapel, lots of work is going on behind the scenes that no one ever knows about. Zella is hard at work sorting clothes each friday.
Zella recently had back surgery, so we're very fortunate to have her back in her spot. She's one organized lady!

Christmas may have already come and gone at Living Water, but don't forget Santa is still checking his list for who's naughty and nice!

(Cairl Horst playing Santa this morning.)

Christmas Toy Day!

2009-12-10T19:26:00.001-08:00

Today was our Christmas Toy Party at Living Water. It was so much fun! We had gifts for 145 children (up from 96 children last year). The parents came to get the toys and were able to giftwrap them before they left.

Andy Dietz & Ember Sherman sang "I Bring An Offering" for us.

Cindy Burris gave her testimony. Even though it was short, it was powerful. Four people gave their lives to Christ!

Afterwards, the parents received the gifts and had the opportunity to giftwrap each toy for their children. That way, they were able to take them home and put them under the tree as a gift from themselves.

People were everywhere giftwrapping!

Cindy found a friend who had a similar life story. As they were talking, Cindy noticed the gifts the girl was wrapping. Cindy had purchased those gifts herself. She was able to tell that young mother that she'd been praying for her and her daughter all week. A Christmas miracle!

These were some of the volunteers who helped make it all happen! Sherry Wingate, right, is the one who organizes our Christmas Toy program. She and a team of volunteers, including Gracie Boyett, left, and Liz Holt, center, shopped for most of the 145 children in one trip to Wal-Mart! They then came to Living Water and sorted the gifts and packaged them by families.

We love helping families with Christmas gifts for their children. It's a special time that means a lot to all of us. Today, I had a mom and daughter, about 8 years old, come to get some clothing for the daughter. I told them to just get what they needed while I set up for our Christmas party in the other room. The lady who supervises our clothing room told me later that this little girl turned to her mom and asked, "What's a party?" That's why we love helping. There are lots of people with needs this year.

Christmas Needs

2009-12-09T08:23:00.001-08:00

The needs in Borger have grown exponentially this year. Last year, Living Water gave Christmas toys to 96 children. This year, we're giving toys to 145 children. And since our registration closed last friday, I've probably had 20 families call wanting to sign their children up for toys.

My heart always goes out to the single moms who are trying so hard to make it. There are 2 that I've had calls about this year. One single mom has a decent job, but she's working as hard as she can just to put food on the table for her 4 children. She'd already told her children that there would be no Christmas this year. Fortunately, some people have offered to help them.

Today, I found out about another single mom who has 3 children of her own (2 of them live with their father) and has taken on 4 nieces and nephews. She's attending Frank Phillips College to get a better job (and is almost finished). But she has no way to provide Christmas for the 5 children living with her. They range in ages from 9-16.

You need to understand that neither of these moms asked for the help. Others have known about their situations and have asked for them. If you'd like to help either of these single moms (And I'm sure I'll hear of more!!), just give me a call at 274-6434. And if you don't live in Borger, call your local benevolence agency and see how you can help. There are so many valid needs out there this year!

CHRISTMAS TOYS!

2009-12-01T11:23:00.001-08:00

This week, people are coming in to register their children for a Christmas toy at Living Water. We will be giving 1 toy per child at a cost of about $20 each. If you'd like to participate, just let us know! You can either go shop for a toy or bring $20 to Living Water and we'll do the shopping. Last year, we gave toys to 96 children. I began registration yesterday and already have 96 children--in just 2 days! We'll be giving the toys to the parents who will then be able to giftwrap the toy at a party just for them on December 10. Join the fun!!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T07:37:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving is so special to us here at Living Water. As reported earlier, we got to give the fixin's to a great Thanksgiving meal to 159 families last friday. That is the largest group we've ever had here on one day. Actually, we had over 200 people in our chapel, but gave food to that many families. But I just wanted to take a minute and tell you what I'm thankful for.

*I'm thankful for the many volunteers who come and give of their time to help Living Water run smoothly. We couldn't help that many people without the sacrifice of so many volunteers.

*I'm thankful for Gib Welch. He's 81 years old and manages our food room. He is so precise and methodical which is exactly what we need. He also preaches at our services from time to time.

*I'm thankful for the 9 churches that support Living Water. I'm also grateful for the help United Way gives us. That's how we're able to assist so many people.

*I'm thankful for the people who have made Living Water their family project and give to us monthly.

*I'm thankful for our board who gives great direction to this ministry.

*I'm thankful for the changed lives we've seen in some of our clients. We now have about 12 people who have been helped through our ministry who now volunteer at Living Water.

*I'm thankful for this ministry and the people who had vision for it. It's a ministry I'm passionate about because I've seen the effects of it. People's lives have been helped and changed because of it.

I'm just plain grateful.

Christmas Gifts

2009-11-24T09:40:00.001-08:00

If you have someone on your Christmas gift list that just has everything, you might consider making a donation to Living Water in their honor. Or why not make a donation in honor of your children along with the gifts you're planning on giving them? We'll supply any number of 3.5 x 4.5 cards you want with every donation you make. You can simply fill in your name and present the cards yourself. Or you can make a donation by mail or through our completely secure donation button to the right. Just send us the names and addresses of those you wish to honor and we'll do the rest! This is a gift that will not only bless the recipient, but will change the lives of many others.

Thanksgiving Morning at Living Water

2009-11-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

Our Thanksgiving celebration at Living Water started about 2 hours before we opened our doors today. Actually, it started weeks ago! Our Food Supervisor, Gib Welch, has been bagging food for about 3 weeks--and a host of volunteers have helped. But this morning, it started with Cairl Horst & Duane Snyder making a trip to our local grocery store to get 60 more dozen eggs and 100 more packages of Brown 'N Serve rolls to round out our bags. And the work began. A team of men and women bagged food while another team of women were sorting our always burgeoning pile of clothing that's been donated. Both groups were hard at work all morning.

The line began forming as people began signing in and registering.

Everything was calm and orderly...at the beginning...

And our room began to fill with lots of little beauties!

Janice Williams, LaNell White and Sandra Keys are our faithful volunteers who register each week.

Another one of those little beauties.

These men were all hard at work in the back getting the food ready.

Em'Rynn was standing in line with his mom getting ready to come in.

Most of the people were already inside. But this line still went halfway down the street. We ended up serving 159 families today!!

It was soon "standing room only!"

Andy Coffey, from Cornerstone, was our preacher for the day. And a celebrity showed up to help! In the background on the right is Chris Brown, our favorite bass player for the Christian band, A Road Less Traveled. He stayed and helped all morning. Thanks, Chris!

I wanted you to be able to hear a little of the message that Andy Coffey brought. You can hear the challenge of preaching to a crowd that is standing room only. What a great day at Living Water. We have so much to be thankful for! And I can tell you that I'm thankful for all of the volunteers who make it happen every week. God bless you--you know who you are!!

Turkeys Anyone?

2009-11-18T21:54:00.000-08:00

I'm sure everyone in Borger knows that United Supermarkets is giving away a free turkey when you spend $100. There's one more week for this fabulous offer! Now I know that lots of people spend more than $100 per month and may have accumulated more than one turkey. If you're looking for a place to give that extra turkey, think of Living Water. We'll be giving them away for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Just bring them by and we'll put them in our freezers. THANKS!

Newest Hunger Report in the U.S.

2009-11-17T07:55:00.000-08:00

This is a report that came out just yesterday. I also heard it on television last night. We're beginning to see the effects of this in our area. Living Water is projected to purchase 71 TONS of food this year through the High Plains Food Bank. If you'd like to be a partner with us and help purchase some of that food, please use our completely secure Donation button to the right! As you can imagine, we are over-budget this year because of the great need.

By Amy Goldstein Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, November 16, 2009; 3:14 PM
The number of Americans who lack dependable access to adequate food shot up last year to 49 million, the largest number since the government has been keeping track, according to a federal report released Monday that shows particularly steep increases in food scarcity among families with children.In 2008, the report found, nearly 17 million children — more than one in five across the United States — were living in households in which food at times ran short, up from slightly more than 12 million youngsters the year before. And the number of children who sometimes were outright hungry rose from nearly 700,000 to almost 1.1 million.Among people of all ages, nearly 15 percent last year did not consistently have adequate food, compared with about 11 percent in 2007, the greatest deterioration in access to food during a single year in the history of the report.Taken together, the findings provide the latest glimpse into the toll that the weak economy has taken on the well-being of the nation’s residents. The findings are from a snapshot of food in America that the U.S. Agriculture Department has issued every year since 1995, based on Census Bureau surveys. It documents both Americans who are scrounging for adequate food — people living with some amount of "food insecurity" in the lexicon of experts — and those whose food shortages are so severe that they are hungry."These numbers are a wake-up call . . . for us to get very serious about food security and hunger, about nutrition and food safety in this country," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said during a briefing of reporters.

This is one of the darlings we've helped feed this year.

And this is a group of volunteers busy preparing groceries to give away.

Two things...

2009-11-16T07:45:00.001-08:00

Two things are happening around here that I want to tell you about. First of all, we've received about 215 holiday Bags of Blessings! That is incredible. That's the good news. The bad news is that we served Bags of Blessings to 267 families last year and we are expecting even more this year. So we had hoped to have 300 Bags of Blessings by now. If you'd still like to help, the list is below. Just copy it off, take it to the grocery store with you and bring the bag to Living Water before December 11. THANK YOU to everyone who has already helped. We are very grateful!!

The Bags of Blessings piling up here at Living Water.

The second thing I want to show you is this---our flooring has come in! We're so excited and we're just waiting to have the space to begin laying it. Our holiday bags have pretty much taken over our floor space right now.

If you'd still like to help bring a (or another) holiday Bag of Blessings to Living Water, the ingredients for the bag are below.

THANK YOU!!!

HOLIDAY BAG OF BLESSINGS

Instructions: Purchase the items below in the quantity indicated. We need the quantities indicated so it will fit in our bags. Place the purchased items in a bag and return it to Living Water before the deadline given.

CAKE MIX/FROSTING 1 BOX/CAN Any

FRIED ONION RINGS 1-3 OZ. Can
JELL-O 1 Small Box Any Flavor

INSTANT POTATOES 1 BOX
MINIATURE MARSHMELLOWS 1 SMALL BAG
BROWN SUGAR 1 LB. BOX
STOVE TOP STUFFING 1 BOX
CANNED PUMPKIN 1-15 OZ. CAN
SUGAR 2 LB. BAG
CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP 1-10 OZ. CAN
CRANBERRY SAUCE 1-16 OZ. CAN
CHICKEN BROTH 1-14 OZ. CAN
YAMS 1-15 OZ. CAN

PLEASE RETURN THE BAG TO LIVING WATER
BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009.
Thank you and may
God bless you richly!

Christmas Toys!

2009-11-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS TOYS 2009

Every year, Living Water gives Christmas toys to children. Parents come and register for their child to receive a Christmas gift and then we have a party where we give the gift to the parent. They are able to giftwrap the present at the party and then take it home and put it under the tree as a gift from themselves or Santa.
As a family, a business, a Sunday School class or for your Christmas party, would you consider donating a $20 gift for a child? We'll be giving toys to children from newborns through 15 years old on Thursday, December 10. So choose an age, choose boy or girl, choose a gift and then donate them all to Living Water--or just bring a $20 Wal-Mart gift card and we'll do the shopping for you. It would be great if we could have the toys at Living Water by December 7. You could even do this in honor of someone for their Christmas gift. Just give us their name and address and we'll send a lovely Christmas card telling them how you honored them by giving a gift to a child. We usually give gifts to over 100 children each year--so your help would be awesome.

You'll ensure some kids have a wonderful Christmas!

Holiday Needs

2009-11-06T09:40:00.000-08:00

We'd like to make you aware of the needs at Living Water. We know that the economy crunch has hit everyone. As a result, the gifts coming in as operating expenses to Living Water have been down. In fact, it's hit us so hard that we won't be able to assist with utility bills this next week unless a miracle takes place.
This is our most expensive time of the year. More clients come needing food, so our food bill is up. More people need help with utility bills, because gas bills are rising. And we're facing giving Christmas toys to over 100 children in December.
If you'd like to help, you can donate to the right through our completely secure Donation button. Or you can send gifts to Living Water, 103 W. 4th St., Borger, TX. 79007.
The last thing I'd tell you is that you're giving to a ministry that's effective. We're seeing lives being changed. We've had 129 people pray to receive Christ this year--so far. We have over a dozen volunteers who are former clients. That's when you know a heart change has taken place---they've gone from receiving to wanting to give. And that's what we're all about.

Space Needed

2009-11-05T09:05:00.000-08:00

Living Water has a good problem---we're busting out at the seams! And we have an immediate need. We don't have the space to store our holiday food. BUT...we have recently acquired the 2 lots south of us on Main St. So if anyone has a truck, trailer or metal building that we could park on those lots and that they would be willing to loan us until after the holidays so we can store our extra food, please let us know! We do have to store our food on-site to be in compliance with the food bank--and this plan would allow that. You can call Becky at 274-6434.

Thank you so much!!

Food Truck Coming!

2009-11-04T10:39:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow, we'll be getting a truck from High Plains Food Bank--which is where we purchase our food. This is an actual photo of their storage building. We're getting a LARGE truck tomorrow. It will include 26 cases of our Thanksgiving turkeys, 21 cases of canned peaches....well, you get the idea. We'll have 191 cases of food coming tomorrow. And we're short-handed. If you can come and be a part of unloading our truck, we'd love some extra muscles! The Food Bank truck usually gets here around 9:45 a.m. on Thursdays. THANKS!

New freezers

2009-10-28T11:34:00.000-07:00

Living Water has been operating with some used freezers from the day our door was opened 7 years ago. We were in dire need of new freezers. ConocoPhillips Lower 48 and United Way recently each purchased a freezer for us! We are so excited to not only have new freezers---we have new commercial freezers.

Our new freezers were delivered this Monday--a whole day early!

George Nies happened to come by at just the right time to help unload and set up our new freezers.

Here they are in all their glory. And just in the nick of time to hold our holiday meats for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Rhonda & Todd Hutton (right) are the ConocoPhillips representatives pictured with Becky Dietz, Living Water Director. This is the freezer ConocoPhillips purchased for us.

Bag of Blessings

2009-10-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

Every year at this time at Living Water, we ask people to fill a Bag of Blessings! These are special holiday foods that we will give the disadvantaged people of Hutchinson County. You don't need to come by and get a bag to fill it; you can take this list to your local grocery store and bring your filled bag to Living Water by Friday, November 6. But...we know it helps to have a grocery bag with this list attached to help remind you. So please come by Living Water and we'll be glad to supply all of the bags you need! We encourage churches, businesses, civic groups, schools---everyone to get in on the fun. It's an easy thing to do to help others during the holidays and it costs less than $20 a bag---but it becomes a huge Bag of Blessings to those receiving them.
We need to fill 300 bags for Thanksgiving and Christmas--so we need your help--PLEASE!

HOLIDAY BAG OF BLESSINGS

Instructions: Purchase the items below in the quantity indicated. (We need the quantities indicated so everything will fit in our bags.) Place the purchased items in a brown paper grocery bag and return it to Living Water before the deadline given.

CAKE MIX & FROSTING 1 Box & 1 Can Any flavor

FRIED ONION RINGS 1-3 oz. Can
JELL-O 1 Small Box Any Flavor
INSTANT POTATOES 1 Box
MINIATURE MARSHMELLOWS 1 Small Bag
BROWN SUGAR 1 lb. Box
STOVE TOP STUFFING 1 Box
CANNED PUMPKIN 1-15 oz. Can
SUGAR 2 lb. Bag
CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP 1-10 oz. Can
CRANBERRY SAUCE 1-16 oz. Can
CHICKEN BROTH 1-14 oz. Can
YAMS 1-15 oz. Can

PLEASE RETURN THE BAG TO LIVING WATER
BY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2009.
Thank you and may
God bless you richly!

Living Water Wedding

2009-10-05T11:03:00.000-07:00

Kelvin Hall & Cyndy (Cory) Lyons

Kelvin & Cyndy met at Living Water. They came to get food....but found each other. They began seeing each other and soon afterward, they were even talking about marriage. Kelvin surprised Cyndy one Friday here at Living Water. He dropped to his knee in front of all of us and asked her to marry him. She said, "YES!"

These are two people whose lives have been changed and are now wanting to affect the lives of others. They have become volunteers at Living Water--where they met! I have a feeling this place will always hold a soft spot in their hearts.

So, this Thursday, they'll tie the knot! And everyone is invited....

Two lives…
Two hearts…
Joined together in friendship…
United forever in love.

Cynthia Ann Lyons
&
Kelvin Dwight Hall

Ask for your attendance in front of our Lord
while taking their vows

Thursday, October 8
at
Four o’clock in the afternoon

Fairlanes Baptist Church
3000 Fairlanes Blvd.
Borger, Texas
Pastor Paul Burwash officiating

Gib Welch

2009-10-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

Gib preparing to sing with his 2 sons at Living Water

Gib Welch is the gentleman who organizes our food pantry. He called early this morning to tell me he wouldn't be in today because he was taking his wife to the hospital. Would you please pray for his wife, Wanda?

September Report

2009-10-02T11:12:00.001-07:00

I thought you might be interested to see what we do at Living Water in a month. This is the report from September:

53 Walk-In Requests

26 Financial Help Given

138 Given Clothing

258 Friday Chapel Attendance

218 Given Food

And 4 people prayed to receive Christ!

Suited up!

2009-09-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is me---Becky. Director of Living Water. United Way began their fund raising campaign this month and since we receive United Way funds, we were asked to help speak at all of the businesses to raise awareness. This week, we have been speaking at Conoco Phillips. In order to go to all of the areas of the plant, we had to suit out in this. I wasn't alone...there were four of us and we were asked a few times if we were part of a chain gang somewhere.
I'm so amazed as I walk around the plant. It's HUGE! Whoever thought of how to make that plant work is a genius--as are the people who keep it working. There are pipes everywhere. It also made me realize I don't pray enough for the men and women who work out there. I'm sure it would be a dangerous place to be if they weren't so safety-conscious.
But those same men and women have been very generous in their giving. So thank you to all of you who have given towards United Way and in turn, helped us.

Living Water Craftsmanship

2009-09-29T11:28:00.001-07:00

We have some really talented men who volunteer at Living Water. I just wanted to showcase some of their handiwork.

Larry Barnes made this business card holder for Living Water. Can you believe he even cut out each letter?

Jess Bonner made this nameplate for me. I was thrilled when he brought it to me!

Larry Rider handcrafted this cross. It starts with the birth of Jesus at the bottom of the cross and works it way up to the ascension. It is just incredible!

We are very proud of the craftsmanship of our volunteers.

New floor coming!

2009-09-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

Living Water is about to take on some updates in our chapel. Right now, that room is covered in commercial carpet. But because of the many spills on the carpet and the cost of carpet cleaning, we've decided to go to wood flooring. We had a rough estimate of $1500 to lay the flooring--before we knew how many feet we actually had in that room. But when we got the final bid, it's going to be about $1000 more than we'd estimated. We hope to get the flooring laid before winter gets here. If you'd like to be a part of this project, just contact us. It's going to make a huge difference in our ministry. This will be our new flooring. We're excited!

Friday is Food Day

2009-09-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

On Fridays at Living Water, we give food to families in Hutchinson County. Today, we served 52 families. We have a great group of volunteers who spend part of the morning filling the grocery bags. During that time, we also have a chapel service. Today, Gib Welch preached after Cairl Horst and Roger Smith sang. Two people prayed to receive Christ today! Part of our philosophy at Living Water is to treat every person who comes with dignity. So our guys push the grocery carts out to the cars for our clients.

Cyndy Lyons & Jess Bonner taking carts to cars.

Mack Shirley

Larry Rider

Duane Snyder

While the guys are pushinging carts out to the cars, Arnie Torio, Gib Welch and Sandy West are refilling the carts.

George Nies pushes a cart while Dennis Hood calls numbers. It's a very orderly process.

David West

Cairl Horst

Larry Barnes

Kelvin Hall
In a matter of minutes, every family has been served.

Thursday

2009-09-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

Thursdays are busy at Living Water. We usually get a truck in from High Plains Food Bank, but there's always one week a month that we don't get a delivery. Today was that day. But the guys still show up to fill our grocery bags, rearrange food, and drink coffee.

This is Larry Barnes looking at the camera. He's a snowbird, so he'll disappear from here in a few months.

Closest to the camera is Jess Bonner. He's a recent volunteer that has jumped in with both feet. Gesturing with his hands is Larry Rider...also a snowbird. He's leaving sooner than Larry Rider. We won't see him til Christmas. He's leaving next week.

From left to right: Larry Barnes, Larry Rider, Mack Shirley, Jess Bonner, Gib Welch, George Snider (another resident clown, as you can see!), Cairl Horst, George Nies, Gracie Boyett & Betty Terry. We wouldn't have a food ministry without these folks!

Today was also the kick-off luncheon for United Way. We invited our board and their spouses to join us there. These are 2 of the spouses. Andy Dietz & Les Sharp.

From left to right: Mary Jean Nies, Suzanne Coffey, Andy Coffey (vice-president of board), Melanie Sharp (board member).

From left to right: Burton Williams (secretary of board), Dennis Hood (board member), Marietta Hood, George Nies (board member).

Again...Marietta Hood, George Nies & Mary Jean Nies.

Melanie & Les Sharp and Burton Williams

Jay Ricci was the guest speaker at the luncheon.

Becky Dietz & Living Water's rock--the rock was donated by Andy Coffey.

We had to have a rock that had our agencies name and "rock solid" on it. Andy Dietz painted this graffiti on the rock for me at 9:00 last night! 150 points to Andy! It's been a great day!

Wednesdays at Living Water

2009-09-23T08:03:00.000-07:00

Wednesday is one of my favorite days here at Living Water. When I get here, Gib, George & Cairl have already done a day's work by pulling stock from the shelves to fill the grocery bags. (And these guys just think they're retired!) And also by the time I get here, they're usually sitting at this table, drinking coffee. They are hard workers! Gib keeps a well-organized food pantry for us and knows exactly what we have at all times and exactly what we need to order. We give groceries to an average of about 60 families per week. And did I tell you that we're on target to give away 71 TONS of food this year??

We also get our food list from High Plains Food Bank on Wednesday mornings. We buy our food from them at $.16/lb. Gib looks over the list and decides what we need to fill our bags. By the way, we're always in need of grocery sacks! When you go to the grocery store and they say, "Paper or plastic?" we hope you'll think of us and say, "PAPER!"

Cairl usually scoots out of here first because he usually has babysitting duties (he's a wonderful granddad!), so I didn't get his picture this morning. I'm so grateful for these guys. Gib does a great job of keeping our food organized and he's lots of fun---he always has a joke handy. And he's doing a good job of training George and Cairl. The thing I love about the group of men that helps us is that they have an open-door policy---any new volunteer is welcome and quickly finds their place to help. We'd love for you to come join us!

Tuesday is our Clothing Day

2009-09-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

Janice & Sandra begin our morning registering shoppers.

They are the first friendly faces you'll see on shopping day.

Gracie is a volunteer who also helps with repackaging our bulk food.

Sharon stepped up to help in our clothing room when our clothing director, Zella, had back surgery.

Gracie & Betty make quite a team. They can work circles around the rest of us!

Betty keeps us all laughing. She's a fun person to have around!!

Gracie arranging those cute girls' clothes.

We have happy volunteers!

Some days, the clothing all comes in at once. That would be a problem if we didn't have such efficient help. These ladies keep a tight-running ship here at Living Water.

Carol is adding a prayer request to our prayer board here at Living Water.

You can see how well-organized our clothing room is. Cindy helps keep it that way.

Carol is sorting pants. (We always need men's jeans at Living Water.)

We always have room for more volunteers

...happy volunteers--like Cindy, Betty & Gracie!

The Founding of Living Water

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Living Water Benevolence, Inc. was incorporated in September of 2002. The ministry was conceptualized by First Baptist Church of Borger, TX. Being over the benevolent ministry of this church, Andy Dietz, minister to students, saw the need for a place where people could go for help instead of going from church to church to get the help they needed. Andy took his vision to the deacons of First Baptist and Conny Moore, the owner and pharmacist of Moore's Pharmacy, became the man who birthed the ministry into fruition. From the beginning, their desire was to get as many churches in Borger as possible involved in the ministry.
Many people gave to get the ministry started. Maxine Stuller donated the building on 4th & Main and the church took on the project of restoring the building for Living Water's use. The doors were opened for ministry in October of 2002. Vonna Humphries was the first Executive Director of Living Water. Dru Grogan began donating his time as the director of the food pantry. This was a perfect fit since he had been the manager of the local United Supermarket.
Vonna Humphries resigned in February of 2007 and Becky Dietz became the new Executive Director. Dru has gone to be with the Lord, but trained Gib Welch who is the current director of our food pantry.
As of September 2009, the Board of Trustees consists of:
Clarence McDaniel, President
Andy Coffey, Vice President
Burton Williams, Secretary
Bill Sizemore, Treasurer
Dennis Hood
Melanie Sharp
George Nies
As of 2009, there are 9 churches involved in supporting Living Water:
Bunavista Baptist Church
Cornerstone Church
Fairlanes Baptist Church
Faith Covenant Church
Fellowship Baptist Church
First Baptist Church
Fortress Baptist Church
Keeler Baptist Church
Riverview Baptist Church
Living Water also receives funds from Hutchinson County United Way.