Congratulations to the 2020 Good Samaritan Philanthropy Award Recipient

Join us this Sunday, February 7, 2021 and participate in our Souper Bowl of Caring!

What started as a grassroots effort in South Carolina in the 1990s to call attention to hunger, has grown into a national fundraising event with over $10 million raised each year.

The Souper Bowl of Caring is centered on the NFL’s Super Bowl Sunday. On that day, millions of dollars are spent on food served at game day parties while many people are hungry.

You, your friends and family can help in several ways. Church youth groups can take up a collection after the service on the day of the big game. Some people collect money at their Super Bowl parties. Other people organize church youth to collect at church suppers and other events during the holidays or Super Bowl Sunday.

After you collect your money, all you need to do is donate your money to Samaritan Soup Kitchen! Send a check to 414 E. Northwest Blvd. or donate online.

For over 25 years, the Penny Campaign has energized the greater Winston Salem community to help feed the hungry during the Christmas season. It is a powerful way to support those in need during the holidays. Our traditional coin collection jars will be very limited this year due to COVID19 restrictions, and our goal is to raise at least $50,000. To help us reach that goal, we have two ways to support the Penny Campaign this year: online (Penny Campaigner) and traditional in-person efforts.

OPTION 1: ONLINE – BE A PENNY CAMPAIGNER! In addition to traditional ways of collecting money, we have set up a virtual method for people to become a “Penny Campaigner” and collect funds online for the Penny Campaign from friends, family, coworkers, and more. You can do this individually or as a team. It’s really easy to set up your campaign!

Visit our Penny Campaigner page HERE to learn more!

OPTION 2: TRADITIONAL IN-PERSON DROP

You may, of course, collect coins or cash and bring them to our traditional coin collection event on Saturday, December 5 from 9 a.m.-noon at Truist Stadium (home of the Winston-Salem Dash) in Winston-Salem at 951 Ballpark Way. This will be a drive-thru event that will follow social distancing and other appropriate COVID-19 guidelines.

This holiday season, we need your help to fill 80 gift bags for our shelter guests and other homeless individuals in the community by donating items, such as socks, gloves, scarfs, hats, toiletry items and more, for gift bags to be distributed on Christmas morning. Items can be sent through our Amazon wish list or dropped off at the Ministry.

Items on our Wish List are always needed, and this time of year, we appreciate the extra support from our community in the purchasing of gift bag items. Thank you for helping us make Christmas special for our neighbors in need and fulfilling Samaritan’s mission of providing food, shelter and hope through Christian love.

SAM & Eggs is Samaritan’s annual fundraising breakfast and serves as our kick off for our fall season of giving. All money raised stays in the community to help hungry and homeless people. The historically in-person event will be virtual this year due to COVID-19. The safety of all Samaritan supporters is our priority. SAM & Eggs funding will be critical this year due to increased expenses around our operational adjustments during the pandemic and uncertainty regarding revenue in the coming months.

Plan to join us right here on our website on Wednesday, September 30 at 8 a.m. for a special program featuring a guest testimony you don’t want to miss. Mark your calendars!

A farewell letter from Sonjia, who retires as Samaritan’s executive director on June 30.

Join us in honoring her legacy! Consider making a gift to an endowed fund that will support Project Cornerstone for years to come. The fund will support one man’s journey through recovery every year. As of June 24, 2020, we are $20,889 away from hitting the $50,000 match challenge, so right now your gift to the fund will be doubled. Thank you to all of the donors thus far!

Online here

Checks should be made directly to The Winston-Salem Foundation, attn: Kurosky/Cornerstone Fund, 751 W 4th St #200, Winston-Salem, NC 27101

Introducing the 2020 Recipient of the Myrtie Davis Lifetime Volunteer Servant Leadership Award

Elizabeth West, the 2020 recipient of the Myrtie Davis Volunteer Servant Leadership Award, was born in Winston Salem on April 13, 1920. She died in 2008, after spending the majority of her life in her home city. She graduated from Winston Salem Teachers College (now WSSU) in 1941. She then received her Master’s degree in Education from N.C. A&T State University and furthered her education at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Pictured here is Elizabeth West (left) with founding director Ann Hensel. Elizabeth was a founding volunteer at Samaritan and served on the very first Board of Directors. Sonjia Kurosky, Executive Director of Samaritan Ministries, says there are many stories about Elizabeth making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches the very first day the soup kitchen served lunch back in 1981. She was also well-known for her mini English muffin pizzas!

From day one, she was a light that shone brightly on our guests and she continued her own special way of ministering at Samaritan for over 20 years. She was a lifelong educator who dedicated herself to gaining and sharing knowledge. Steve Stover, the shelter manager at Samaritan Ministries, was lucky enough to have Elizabeth as his fourth-grade teacher. When asked to talk about her, Steve said, “She always made everyone feel special. She encouraged all to be the very best.” Steve and Elizabeth kept in touch until he went into the military and then their paths crossed again at Samaritan. Steve says she was “more than an educator in school – she was an educator of life.”

While Elizabeth was an amazing woman and caretaker of Samaritan’s soup kitchen guests, she achieved other outstanding accomplishments in her community and beyond. As a long-time member of Lloyd Presbyterian church and an exceptional historian, she was key in getting Lloyd on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. Those who knew her personally will tell you that one of her proudest moments was meeting first lady Eleanor Roosevelt when she was a college student. The details of this are not very well known, but here she is pictured with Eleanor and her two Scotties in Hyde Park, NY. For fellow Samaritan volunteers and guests that had the pleasure to know Elizabeth, she is fondly remembered as a true angel on earth, who never stopped giving her wisdom and love to all.

This award seeks to honor a long-time volunteer for selfless commitment to Samaritan Ministries and our guests. The Award is meant to be an encouragement to all of us to act on the words of Jesus in Matthew 25. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. . . I was a stranger and you invited me in. Matthew 25:35

James Smith is a former Samaritan Ministries guest and Project Cornerstone graduate who nominated Elizabeth. He says that she was the “mother of the soup kitchen” and that she had an uncanny way of always gravitating to the ones who needed her kindness and wisdom the most. James says that she always made you feel special and loved, regardless of what was going on outside those soup kitchen walls. Almost 40 years later, James says that he can still feel the warmth of her heart.

Be part of the #GivingTuesdayNow movement by planning to make a gift on Tuesday, May 5, 2020! All proceeds will help Samaritan continue their services through this pandemic, providing food, shelter and hope to our neighbors in need.

Our annual Tour de Llama event has been postponed to October 17, 2020 at Divine Llama Vineyards.

We know it’s disappointing, but we are looking out for the safety of everyone. We can’t wait to see you this fall!

Now through April 7, please vote once a day for Al Jones to receive the People’s Choice Award through HandOn Northwest!

Vote here

Scroll to Al Jones. Click “vote” once a day through April 7!

The individual or group who receives the most votes will be recognized, along with the traditional category winners that are chosen by the GVSA Selection Committee.

Pictured: Al (front) prays with a group of volunteers at Samaritan in 2010.

Al Jones has been an integral part of Samaritan Ministries since 2006. His service touches every aspect of Samaritan, including the Soup Kitchen that feeds hundreds of people each day, the Samaritan Inn that shelters up to 80 homeless men each night, and the volunteer board that guides the Ministry. Al serves loyally with his church, Mt. Tabor United Methodist, once a month as an overnight shelter volunteer. He also saw the need for more shelter check-in leaders and stepped into that role monthly as well. These two roles totaled 148 hours of service last year. But those hours don’t include the time Al spends serving as the co-chair on our church subcommittee to recruit overnight shelter volunteers; picking up food donations to keep the Soup Kitchen pantry stocked; and serving as the board’s assistant treasurer, completing a 6-year term that runs until 2021. Al is also a member of the Tour de Llama committee (an annual bike ride that raised nearly $37,000 last year.) He also has earned the title “Water-man” because he services all the water stations for the bikers during the ride. He sets up the night before and works 8-10 hours the day of the ride. Al is always just a phone call away no matter what the need may be. One day, we needed help directing traffic for a lunch event. Without hesitation, Al recruited friends and showed up in rain gear to direct traffic in the pouring rain – and a smile never left his face.