Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 1, 1993 TAG: 9301010068
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH, WENDI GIBSON RICHERT and AMANDA BARRETT STAFF
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SWEETS NO LUXURY AT DAY SHELTER
When Roanoke Area Ministries' RAM House day shelter opens at 7 a.m., there are two things visitors can count on.The first is the coffee pot, which is kept going all day long. The other is the two big boxes of pastries that shelter workers put out every morning.
For some visitors, this may be the only breakfast they get.
Pastry may seem like a luxury for RAM House, where Roanoke's hungry and homeless can come for a hot meal or a place to stay during the day, but it comes to the shelter free from the Harris Teeter store at Towers Mall. For several years, the store has been donating day-old pastries, cookies, bread and rolls made in its bakery. Because the food is out of date it can't be sold, but it is still perfectly fresh, said RAM Director Julie Hollingsworth.
Tom Webster, co-manager at the store, said the project started when one of his employees, who volunteered at RAM, asked if the food could be donated to the shelter. At the time, the pastry was being thrown away.
It sounded like a good idea, Webster said, and since then the store's out-of-date baked goods have gone to the Salvation Army, the City Rescue Mission and other charities, as well as RAM House. At times, he said, as much as $100 worth of baked goods may go to a charity in one day.
The store is careful to donate to large organizations, rather than individuals, Webster said, to assure that the food goes to those who really need it.
"It's good community relations," Webster said. "It's something we need to do as a caring company. We need to return as much as we can to the community."
Hollingsworth said the shelter's visitors really enjoy the baked goods, some of which can be used for dessert after lunch.
People often tell her about other stores with similar programs, she said, but there is no one available to collect the goods. In fact, most of the time, Hollingsworth hauls in the Harris Teeter donation herself in the back of her station wagon. To collect any more "would be a part-time job," she said.
To help those requesting emergency financial assistance, RAM relies on the Good Neighbors Fund, Hollingsworth said. The fund enables RAM to provide meals, medicines and financial assistance to people in need.
Though the fund did not reach the amount of money donated this time last year, Hollingsworth is grateful - and confident that more money will come in.
"My feet are on the ground, but my head is in the clouds. I just always know things will work out," she said.
"I really think that money is going to keep coming in. This is a caring community."
As of Thursday, the Good Neighbors Fund has raised $92,227.29 for RAM. This time last year, the fund had raised $114,807.33. The fund continued to grow to about $125,000, however, after the drive ended on New Year's Eve.
More than 75 percent of RAM's budget is given back to the community, honoring the organization's pledge to support the community. In the first 10 months of this year, RAM has spent about $104,500 on emergency assistance and $103,000 to run the RAM House shelter.
Hollingsworth said that RAM will not lower its percentage of giving this year. "We'll be very hard pressed to honor the requests we get," she said. But "we're committed to keep on giving to those in need. If necessary, administrative costs will be cut."
"We want to thank everyone who has contributed to the fund this year," said Walter Rugaber, president and publisher of the Roanoke Times & World-News. "And we want to assure donors that every penny will go to provide things many less-fortunate people in this community really need - like heat and shelter, food and medicine."
Donors still interested in giving to the fund may continue to send contributions to the Good Neighbors Fund or donate directly to RAM.
Checks should be made payable to Good Neighbors Fund and mailed to Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke 24008.
Names - but not the amounts of donations - of contributing businesses, individuals or organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.
Gifts cannot be earmarked for any particular individual or family. Gifts are tax-deductible.