In The News...

Marian Medical Center Awards $2,500 Grant to Rescue S.O.S.

February 2012 - Marian Medical Center awarded a $2,500 grant to Central Coast Rescue Mission’s Rescue S.O.S. (Survival Outreach Services) program.  Rescue S.O.S., provides hot meals, clean clothing, and hygiene items for men, women, and children who are poor, elderly, or homeless. Marian Medical Center’s generous grant will help the mission to meet operational expenses for the program which is an on-going service to the Santa Maria community

 WOODS FAMILY AWARDS $30K TO RESCUE S.O.S. – SANTA MARIA

December, 2011 - The Edwin & Jeanne Woods Family Foundation awarded a very generous $30,000 grant to the Central Coast Rescue Mission toward the purchase of a new cargo van needed for its Rescue S.O.S. program. Their on-going support of the mission demonstrates the foundation’s compassion for people in need and their commitment to make the Central Coast a better place to live.    

HUNDREDS TURN OUT FOR TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING MEAL OFFERED BY THE RESCUE MISSIONPosted: Tuesday, November 22, 2011 12:05 am

Hundreds of people turned out Monday for a traditional Thanksgiving meal sponsored by the Central Coast Rescue Mission. Scores of volunteers helped provide traditional holiday fare to those in the community who otherwise may have gone without.

“Helping people, both working and homeless, who don't get to have the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving — this lets them do that,” said Larry Cooney, director of the Rescue Mission. “It's a great opportunity to help the community.”

Teri Huitron said this was the first time she had volunteered at the event, which was held at the Santa Maria Veterans Hall on West Tunnell Street, and she found it fulfilling. “I love helping people and giving back,” Huitron said. “It makes me feel really good.”

In addition to a traditional Thanksgiving meal with all the fixings, attendees received clothes and personal-hygiene items such as shampoo, soap and toothbrushes.

“It's really great — we have six different churches and two businesses here helping, and most of our volunteer teams volunteer to serve at least once a month throughout the year,” said David Bickham, the Rescue Mission’s chaplain and volunteer coordinator.

He noted that it takes about 30 volunteers to serve one meal to 200 people, and some 600 to 700 people were expected to be served by the end of the day.

RESCUE MISSION HOPES TO HONOR POOR
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Posted: Tuesday, October 18, 2011 12:00 am 

October 2011 - The Central Coast Rescue Mission in Santa Maria hopes to continue honoring the poor this year through its item drives and Thanksgiving Dinner Celebration. To better fulfill that mission, the group is asking for turkey and other item donations, more volunteers and help from community businesses.

The mission is seeking turkey donations for the Thanksgiving Dinner Celebration, which will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 21, at the Veterans Hall in Santa Maria. David Bickham, the mission volunteer coordinator, said the group needs to collect 40 to 50 turkeys by Nov. 7 because that’s when turkeys must be sent to an Oxnard sister mission to cook.

Donors can drop turkeys off at the mission, or a volunteer will pick up the birds in the Santa Maria area. A $16.40 donation sponsors two tables seating four people each, $20.50 sponsors two tables with five people each, and $30.75 sponsors three tables with five people each. Last year, volunteers served about 500 meals to needy families and handed out clothes, blankets and hygiene items during the dinner.

The mission also extends an invitation for local businesses to take part in “Tubs of Love,” which collects wish-list items such as rain gear, eye glasses or hygiene products.

“Tubs of Love” turns into a toy drive leading up to Christmas.

Volunteers are needed for food outreach —  working at the Thanksgiving dinner or serving hot dinner during the week — or to help in the mission office or thrift store at 306 N. Broadway. “We’re out feeding the poor in our community four days a week,” Bickham said, adding that the mission serves one of the only hot free meals in town to the poor.

For more information on how to donate time, items or to sponsor a table, contact Bickham at 357-1208. Items can also be dropped off at the mission at 1207 N. McClelland St.

NEARLY 1 IN 6 AMERICANS IN POVERTY, CENSUS SAYS

September 2011 - WASHINGTON (AP) — The ranks of the nation's poor have swelled to a record 46.2 million — nearly 1 in 6 Americans — as the prolonged pain of the recession leaves millions still struggling and out of work. And the number without health insurance has reached 49.9 million, the most in over two decades.

The figures are in a Census Bureau report, released Tuesday, that offers a somber snapshot of the economic well-being of U.S. households for last year when joblessness hovered above 9 percent for a second year. The rate is still 9.1 percent at the start of an election year that's sure to focus on the economy and President Barack Obama's stewardship of it.

The overall poverty rate climbed to 15.1 percent, from 14.3 percent the previous year, and the rate from 2007-2010 rose faster than for any similar period since the early 1980s when a crippling energy crisis amid government cutbacks contributed to inflation, spiraling interest rates and unemployment. For last year, the official poverty level was an annual income of $22,314 for a family of four. Measured by total numbers, the 46 million now living in poverty are the most on record dating back to when the census began to track in 1959. The 15.1 percent tied the level of 1993 and was the highest since 1983. (Click Here to read the entire article)

NEWHALL FOUNDATION CLOSES THE GAP ON FUNDING NEEDED FOR RESCUE SOS EXPANSION

May 2011 - The Henry Mayo Newhall Foundation’s generous $6,000 grant award toward the expansion of Rescue S.O.S. (Survival Outreach Services) brings the total amount raised for the expansion to $30,000. Funding will support the cost of a vehicle needed to deliver hot meals daily to the homeless and expand its services to include evening meals in northern Santa Barbara County.