I recently received a letter from a very nice woman who is going through some tough times, that I thought I'd share with you.

This can be very discouraging work sometimes. Many times, it seems like we are taking two steps back for every one step forward, but occasionally we do see a ray of hope.

Dear Mr. Salars;

Recently I lost my husband and best friend to cancer and am hurting in ways that are indescribable. My days are spent working full time. My nights are spent doing homework and taking care of two small children. I don't have shared duties with a spouse anymore. Everything, including the bread-winning is now on my plate.

I just wanted to thank you for the service you provide at the Mission. In the past I have dropped clothes off, but I never dreamed we would ever need your services. The food we have been getting has been a Godsend and even the clothes have come in handy.

I know you probably don't hear it very often, but our small family thanks you and your staff from the bottom of our hearts for your friendliness and help.

~ Name withheld upon request.

Now this young mother even sent in a photo so I would remember who she was and there was a sticky note attached that read GÇ£I take pictures of me smiling, but the truth is my nights are spent in tears.GÇ¥

Now it is letters like this that make all of this worthwhile and attitudes like this young lady's that make me appreciate our small town and the help so many of us are able to give in so many ways.

Tomorrow - Saturday, May 6 - We will be participating in Give Grandly. This is a 24 hour day of giving to support the non-profits in our area. From 12:01 am until 11:59 pm, we will be working alongside 52 other Grant County non-profits to raise awareness - and dollars - for our individual programs.

AND - thanks to the generosity of Freeport McMoRan and the United Way of Southwest New Mexico - we have a chance to have our donations matched if we can get to their threshold! Your donation will be effectively DOUBLED!

So we are asking you to help us in our work. Last year the Mission was able to feed 35,261 hungry souls in the soup kitchen and hand out 4,892 food boxes. For every $1.16 you give the Mission, we are able to feed one person and for every dollar that we do receive, .91 cents goes back into helping those we serve with the remainder going to operating costs.

We are a non-profit, non-denominational Christian charity who serves anyone, without question who comes through our doors and tomorrow we are asking for your support.

How can I help?

There are several very easy ways to give.

If you want to come see my smiling face.... and make me smile bigger by handing me a check, cash or having me run your credit card, come see me at the Silver City Farmers Market in downtown Silver City between 8:30 am and 2:30 pm.
Visit www.givegrandly.org and click donate and then select Silver City Gospel Mission
Text to 41444 and type GÇ£grandlyGÇ¥ follow the prompts and select Silver City Gospel Mission
Every single dollar counts toward feeding, clothing and giving hope to your neighbor who might just need a little bit of love.

Thank you and I hope to see many of you tomorrow!

Randy Salars
Director
Silver City Gospel Mission