Members of Woodmen Life Chapter 250 stand around the raised community garden boxes which have provided hundreds of pounds of fresh produce for Shelby County Outreach Ministries. The Chapter has received the Project of the Year award in the North East Texas District for their support of the Community Garden Project.
September 19, 2018 - During the September meeting of Woodmen Life Chapter 250, chapter president Ellen Manning announced the group had received Project of the Year in the North East Texas district for the Community Garden project which is lead by the local Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.
Joyce Hurt, chapter secretary reported, "We got the letter from the home office congratulating us on having been selected as Woodmen Project for 2018 for North East Texas."
The Chapter has been a supporter of the Community Garden program which is organized by Jheri-Lynn McSwain, Ph.D., AgriLife Extension Agent. The garden provides educational opportunities for students as well as fresh food donations for Shelby County Outreach Ministries (SCOM) and the Senior Nutrition Site. The SCOM organization benefits from the Community Garden project directly but it also receives monetary donations from Woodmen Life Chapter 250.
Sherry Harding, Executive Director of SCOM, attended the meeting and gave an update, "We gave out 300 food boxes just last month. In 2017 we had 19,000... almost 20,000 senior meals that we distributed through our meals on wheels program and in our congregate site. And then we feed over 5,700 people in Shelby County last year, assisted I think 4,119 needs, and distributed 110,000 pounds of food. It was just massive quantities last year. So, these donations help us tremendously. Last month alone, I spent $5,000 just trying to stock our pantry and as fast as we stock it, its going out. And the majority of the people we see are elderly and some are living on like 400 or 500 dollars a month." Harding ended with, "I thank you guys for your heart because every little bit helps."
The chapter approved their common bond contributions of $300 to each of the eight volunteer fire departments in the area which are Center, Tenaha, Timpson, Joaquin, Shelbyville, Huxley, West Shelby County, and San Augustine. Continuing contributions of $500 were approved for Shelby County Education Day, Shelby County Museum, Shelby County Outreach Ministries, Senior Nutrition Site, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and the Fannie Brown Booth Memorial Library.
New contributions were approved for a dog rescue run by the Fullinwinders and $400 for the Quilts of Valor project to sponsor two quilts.
Members of the Woodmen Life Chapter 250 collected can goods to donate to Shelby County Outreach Ministries.
Shelby County Outreach Ministries' Executive Director Sherry Harding accepts a check from Ashton Askew, chapter 250 treasurer, for their annual donation of $500.
