Pastor Mandy Sayers would like to share with you the letter we received from Grassroots on April 9.

Dear Pastor Mandy,

On behalf of everyone at Grassroots, I want to sincerely thank you clergy, staff, volunteers and congregation at Glen Mar United Methodist Church for your tremendous support of this year’s Cold Weather Shelter. There is no way we would be able to provide this critical service without your continued partnership.

Thanks to your kindness and generosity, we were able to ensure safety and security for 39 individuals, including 11 children, over the course of 116 very cold winter days and nights.  With your help ,Grassroots provided 2,265 shelter bed nights, as well as 12,740 warm and nutritious meals for both our Cold Weather and emergency shelter guests.

We felt so fortunate that we were able to house our Cold Weather Shelter guests at Grassroots this year, following the addition of 20 new beds to our emergency shelter in December.  This allowed us to provide even more services to the individuals and families seeking support.  At the same time, our requests of you became greater, as we needed to provide three hot meals to all 71 guests in the emergency shelter.  Your team was their for us without question, ensuing that everyone was fed and cared for with the dignity and respect they deserve.

As we closed the Cold Weather Shelter last month, we are happy to report that nearly three-quarters of our guests exited to longer term shelter programs at Grassroots or stable housing.  We appreciate your dedication to our community and are so very thankful to call Glen Mar United Methodist Church a partner and friend.

With gratitude,

Dr. Mariana Izraelson, Executive Director