Events
Friends of the Shelter
10/23/10
The Friends of the Shelter is a program designed to accept pledged donor commitments. “Friends” consist of donors desiring to make pledged financial commitments on an annually recurring basis. Levels of giving are as follows:
Friend $200 minimum annual pledge
Supporter $365 minimum annual pledge
Sponsor $500 minimum annual pledge
Patron $1,000 minimum annual pledge
Benefactor $2,500 minimum annual pledge
2010 FRIENDS OF THE SHELTER RECOGNITION
On October 19th Virginia Scales & GCS hosted the third Friends of the Shelter Recognition Dinner honoring outstanding sustaining contributors. This year’s honorees were Mary Ann Rose & Walter Pories for Outstanding Individual/Family; The Kessler Law Firm for Outstanding Business; and Oakmont Baptist Church for Outstanding Faith Organization. Each of the honorees has made a significant financial contribution to GCS on a regular basis for 5 or more years. During the event each honoree received a special tribute and a recognition plaque. GCS appreciates these contributors for their faithful support! Read further for details about the honorees.
Mary Ann Rose attended the first recruitment luncheon for Friends of the Shelter in 2003. Since that time she and her husband Walter have faithfully made a monthly contribution to Greenville Community Shelters. Though the contributions are sent by Mary Ann she is quick to state that it is a joint commitment on the part of both she and her husband Walter Pories. Since both are health care professionals employed by ECU, she a nurse and he a physician, it seems a natural fit that they would embrace a
service that helps people improve their quality of life.
Walter Pories, a member of the Brody School of Medicine faculty, regularly volunteers his time as a physician at the Greenville Community Shelter Clinic, working with medical students in training. The Shelter Clinic provides homeless shelter residents not only with on-site health care and prescription medications, but also with referrals when ongoing medical treatment is necessary. Without dedicated physicians like Walter the work of the Shelter Clinic could not happen.
When asked why they choose to be sustaining donors for Greenville Community Shelters Mary Ann and Walter state: “We believe that no person can reach his or her full potential without some basic things. We all need warmth and shelter, food, and a place to relax and call home. We give to Greenville Community Shelters because they help assure that everyone has access to those basic things”.
Christopher Kessler was licensed to practice law in North Carolina in 1992. After practicing in association with other attorneys for several years, he and his family moved to Greenville from Tarboro, NC to open The Kessler Law Firm. Since 2005 Mr. Kessler has provided annual financial support to Greenville Community Shelters through his law firm. He always expresses a genuine concern for the Shelter and a desire to help those who are homeless. Some of this concern stems from a personal experience where he and his family nearly lost their home during the devastating
eastern North Carolina flood in 1999. Another factor that likely heightens this concern derives from the love and support he receives from a very devoted family in wife Lorri and two beautiful daughters, and realizing how hard it must be for those who do not have home and family to sustain them. Like Mary Ann Rose, Chris gives credit to his family for supporting his choice to offer financial help to Greenville Community Shelters.
When asked why his business chooses to be sustaining donors for Greenville Community Shelters Chris and his family state: [After the flood], “we realized that sometimes, things happen in a person’s life that one cannot control. We hope that our tiny financial contribution can help others. In these troubling times we realize that the homeless person on the street could very well be us one day or someone we love. To quote from our Father’s book, “For to whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required….”
Oakmont Baptist Church has supported Greenville Community Shelters for many years. The church gives 75% of the communion offering collected on the first Sunday of each month to Greenville Community Shelters. Oakmont states that: “this monthly financial gift is a way for
the congregation to help those who have found themselves in desperate situations. In addition, Oakmont knows that the offering is wisely invested because GCS works with each individual who stays at GCS to break addictions, get counseling, finish education, find employment, set financial goals, and eventually to find permanent housing. GCS is enabling its clients to once again become self-supporting citizens and to provide for hemselves and their families in a healthy way”. Greenville Community Shelters is grateful for the commitment of Oakmont Baptist Church because it is an excellent example of how consistent giving helps to provide financial stability so that organizations can plan to do good work. In addition to consistent financial support the individual congregants and Sunday School classes at Oakmont Baptist Church have helped in many ways through the years including: serving meals and interacting with residents to offer encouragement on a monthly basis; providing dinner and Christmas gifts for Shelter residents in December; donating and wrapping Club Rudolph gifts for children; donating paper goods and cleaning supplies throughout the year; helping with landscaping needs, cleaning and organizing; painting and repairing physical structures; kids ministry, etc. You name it and Oakmont has done most of it! Oakmont has been a source of necessary lifeblood for the hard work that GCS is about on a daily basis.
When asked why Oakmont chooses to be a sustaining donor for Greenville Community Shelters the following was stated: “As we live out our faith by sharing ourselves and our resources with others, God is able to refocus our perspectives on what is really important in life and to be humbled as we serve others. Oakmont considers it a privilege to partner with GCS in fulfilling its mission to transform lives. Thank you GCS for the good work that you do in our community”!