MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We had over 250 Bags of Blessings donated to Living Water this year--outstanding!

Maria Guevara blessed us with some special treats at Christmas.

We handed out our Christmas groceries in the SNOW! It really was fun!!


We had all hands on deck.

Our own Santa---braved the snow for us!

Merry Christmas to the friends of Living Water!! We are so grateful for everyone who has blessed Living Water this year--whether it was through bringing a load of clothing, a Bag of Blessings, volunteered, or made a donation. It's been an EXCEPTIONAL year at Living Water! We've added a number of volunteers this year--including some former clients. That blesses our hearts. We've seen donations from new friends. But most importantly, we've had 68 people give their lives to Christ this year through this ministry!!
We just want to thank you for your involvement. Please pray for us in the coming year. We want to do everything to the praise of His glory!
If you intend to make an end-of-the-year donation to Living Water, please mail it to us at 103 W. 4th St., Borger, TX 79007 to arrive in our mailbox on December 30. Our office will be closed the week of Dec. 27-31.

Thank you, again, for all you do for Living Water. We pray each of you are blessed in 2011!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Becky Dietz

Living Water's Volunteer Appreciation Christmas Party

Living Water had their first-ever Volunteer Appreciation Christmas Party this past Thursday, December 2nd. It was so much fun! So we thought we'd share some photos of this event with you.

This was the Christmas tree we put up in our chapel--where we had our party. We'll be having a drawing to give it away to one of our clients at our Christmas Food Distribution.

Debbie Chowins made cookies for our party.

We thought they were so cute--but they were also delicious!

David & Lindsey Dietz catered and served for the evening.

The decorations were really pretty.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Gib Welch (right) was honored during the evening for being the Volunteer of the Year for the Panhandle of Texas!

Micah Scheffler was honored for being our youngest volunteer of 2010.

Jess Bonner (head of table) was our resident auctioneer for our auction later in the evening. Our volunteers brought gifts to be auctioned and the proceeds went to Living Water.

More guests

Burton & Janice Williams

Clarence McDaniel (left) was honored for his 8 years of serving on the Living Water Board of Trustees. He's been a huge asset.

We had salad, brisket, beans, baked potatoes, bread and apple dumplings at our meal.

Lindsey serving the guests

God's Country entertained us for the evening

Their band consists of Stu Denton, Sonny Clayton, Jodie Brock, Jeff Walker and Tommy Birch.

We heard some Christmas and gospel favorites.

It was such a fun night that I think we'll make it an annual event!

Holiday Bag of Blessings

Living Water is starting their Holiday Bag of Blessings campaign. We ask you to fill a bag with the items below in the quantity indicated and bring it to Living Water by Friday, November 12. This bag will be given during our holiday food hand-outs to the less fortunate of Hutchinson County. This way, everyone can enjoy a great holiday meal! Living Water is located at 4th & Main in Borger. Come to the door with the arch on 4th Street, Monday-Thursday from 9-3.

HOLIDAY BAG OF BLESSINGS

Instructions: Purchase the items below in the quantity indicated.
Place the purchased items in a grocery bag and return it to Living Water (103 W. 4th St.)
before Friday, November 12.

CAKE MIX 1 BOX Any Flavor
WALNUTS or PECANS 1 PKG.
JELL-O 1 Small Box Any Flavor
INSTANT POTATOES 1 BOX
MINIATURE MARSHMALLOWS 1 SMALL BAG
BROWN SUGAR 1 LB. BOX
STOVE TOP STUFFING 1 BOX
CANNED PUMPKIN 1-15 OZ. CAN
SUGAR 2 LB. BAG
CAKE FROSTING 1 CAN
FRIED ONION RINGS 1-3 OZ. CAN
CHICKEN BROTH 1-14 OZ. CAN
YAMS 1-15 OZ. CAN
CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP 1-10 OZ. CAN

Thank you and may God bless you!

Some Great Guys!

We have some guys who will go to any length to help us out at Living Water!!

We got a new freezer today and had to do some major shifting around to make it fit! And when you shift things around, you find things like this. Cairl Horst is quite the guy to clean up our gummy messes!!

We had to move our volunteers refrigerator into the break room to make the new freezer fit in our food room. It was quite a task!

George Nies is the former owner of Montgomery Wards in Borger. So he's a pro at moving heavy items. And we're so grateful he kept his dolly from those days!

But look at this new chest freezer---it has dividers in it! And something Gib Welch always wanted for our food room. We can't wait for him to see it!

Costume Photo Opportunity

Do you have a little angel you'd like to have photographed this Halloween? This is the perfect
opportunity for you! Images Photography is offering a free 4x5 photo of anyone in a costume Monday, October 25 through Wednesday, October 27th at 423B West 10th St in Borger, TX from 4-8 p.m. All you have to do is bring a non-perishable food item which will be donated to Living Water!! And...if you'd like to purchase 2-5x7's, it's only $10--and Images Photography will donate $3 of that to Living Water!

Get your little angel's photo taken and help out Living Water all at the same time!

Help Wanted--Food!

Living Water has a need. We purchase our food from High Plains Food Bank in Amarillo at a reduced rate. Right now, we're not able to get a lot of the things we need from them--their supply is low! If you have a group who is looking for a project, we'd love for you to help us. We need about 100 of the same items. We can use basic supplies like flour, sugar, margarine or packaged products like egg noodles, Hamburger Helper, or crackers. We could also use snack items like animal crackers, cookies or Pop Tarts. Anything will help! We're still able to get some of the canned vegetables..but could use canned meats. It will help us so much if we get 100 of the exact same thing.

If you have any questions, just give us a call at 274-6434. THANKS!!

Betty Wins!!

Betty Terry

Yesterday, Betty Terry, Gracie Boyett & Mary Jean Nies attended the High Plains Food Bank conference with me in Amarillo. It was very informative. In fact, we learned some things that we'll be implementing in our ministry in the coming days.

At the end, they always have a drawing for some great prizes. They've learned that our ministires love a good dolly! We hadn't gotten our tickets for the drawing, so I found the man who held the tickets---and he only had four left! Perfect. And the first name they called was "Betty Terry!" She chose a dolly for Living Water. We're so excited---and we know our guys are going to be thrilled. Betty offered rides around the building for $1 to try and make a little money for us, too. Way to go, Betty!!

Veterans of Foreign Wars--Adobe Walls Post #1789

This morning, we had a great honor at Living Water. The Adobe Walls Post #1789 Veterans of Foreign Wars brought a check to us in the amount of $1000! They told us that they support what we're doing in our community. And we're just as proud of what they've given and sacrificed for our nation.

God bless you guys!!

Memorial Gifts

Did you know that you can give memorial gifts through Living Water? If there's been a death in your family or a friends' family, it's a great way to remember that person. It honors that person by helping others. Living Water helps the less fortunate in Hutchinson County with food, clothing, financial assistance, school supplies and Christmas gifts. So when you give a memorial, it's an investment that gives over and over to others. We send a very nice letter to the family or families to let them know of your gift. You can also send a gift in honor of someone you love or respect.

Gib Welch Preaching

Each week, we have a different speaker from our supporting churches preach at our food service. This is Gib Welch sharing his heart at today's service. We love Gib!

Kids & Backpacks

Anna, Rachel & Aaron Madden helping distribute backpacks to kids

Living Water gave away over 130 backpacks to kids in Hutchinson County this week! These backpacks were filled with supplies the kids will need as they start to school. We're so grateful to Sherry Wingate for spearheading this project and for the many wonderful volunteers that helped make it happen. Lots of kids will be starting school in style.

2010 School Supplies for the Classroom

This year, Living Water embarked on a new project. Hutchinson County probation office had always provided school supplies for the teachers' classrooms but because of new state rules, they were no longer able to do it. So they asked us if we'd take it on...and we have. This week, we have given school supplies to the teachers of Hutchinson County for their classrooms. Lots of supplies.

We certainly wanted them to feel welcome at their new spot, so we appealed to their sweet tooth!

They were able to take what they thought they'd need. All we asked is that they left enough for those coming behind them.

We had things for preschoolers and all the way up to high schoolers.

Lots of things!

Our aim was to have some happy teachers...and I think we accomplished that goal!

By the way, teachers, we intend to stock school supplies all year long, so when you run out, come on back!

Wesley United Methodist Kids Help!

This week, we had a group of kids from Wesley United Methodist Church help us out! They were recently confirmed and as a social service project, they collected clothing and brought it to us.

These were a great group of kids!! And the best thing about it is that some of them cleaned out their own closets and donated their own things to us. Thanks, guys! And I loved the stoles you made.

Living Water has become a participant in the Ample Harvest project. If you are growing a vegetable garden this summer and have vegetables you'd like to share with others, please consider bringing them to Living Water at 103 W. 4th Street in Borger---and we'll be sure and share them those who have a need!!

Fans Wanted!

As summer approaches, we are going to need fans to give to the families in our area who don't have air conditioners in their homes. We usually start having a call for them at this time of year--all the way through the summer. If you have a fan you're not using, would you consider donating it to Living Water? Or you can donate funds and we'll do the purchasing for you! Thank you!

CURVES WINS!!

The ladies of Curves delivered the food in grocery baskets to Living Water.

Curves of Borger was recognized by Curves International as a winner in the company’s nationwide fundraising campaign to help food banks in local communities. Throughout the month of March, Curves of Borger raised over 16,409 pounds of food that was given to Living Water Benevolence Ministry to provide food to needy families in Hutchinson County. The final results raised by the Curves of Borger surpassed the goals set by owner, Clesta Collins. “We set a goal of collecting 1500 pounds and $200 which is the most we ever collected and would have been a “high water” mark for us. I had no idea that we could collect this amount and I still stand in amazement,” Collins said.

The drive had every Curves club in the country competing against each other,in a friendly competition to see which club could receive the most donations. To make the drive even more appealing to local members, Curves of Borger had a friendly competition between themselves, the three Curves clubs in Amarillo, and even the Sunday School Classes at First Baptist Church competing against each other. On the amount of support provided by the community, Collins said, “I think one of the reasons so many helped out is simply the people of Borger are generous and we are a caring community. But most importantly, I think it is the unmerited favor of God, we committed it to Him and He blessed it.”

The Clothing Room of Living Water

For those of you who have never been to Living Water, we wanted to give you a peek inside our clothing room and tell you about that part of our ministry. We receive our clothing from our community. When people clean out their closets, we are the beneficiaries. We ask for gently-used, clean clothing that is in season. We just don't have the space to store clothing from season to season. We receive those donations Monday-Thursday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at 103 W. 4th Street in Borger.

Zella McKinney is our clothing coordinator. She works tirelessly in our clothing room, sorting clothing into sizes and hanging it on our racks to make it easier for our clients to shop.

As you can see, our clothing room rivals any department store in town. We have about 4 volunteers that give of their time to keep it well-organized.

We have sizes from newborns to adults. We're always in need of children's clothing and men's jeans.

Our clients are allowed to shop once a month and are able to get as much as is available in the sizes for which they are shopping. Of course, in case of an emergency (such as a fire), our clothing room is available to help those in need.

And the best thing? It's all FREE!

And nothing is ever wasted or thrown away. If we can't use it, we send it to a Christian school in San Antonio who sells clothing to raise tuition for their students. And if they can't use it, they send it to Mexico. Our goal is to offer clothing that is in style and fashionable--something we would wear ourselves. I hope you've enjoyed a peek inside this ministry!

The Feinstein Foundation

THE FEINSTEIN FOUNDATION

The Alan Feinstein Foundation will divide $1 million among anti-hunger agencies nationwide who raise support for their agency from March through April of 2010. Donations can include cash, checks and food items as long as they are given through this challenge. So if you have considered donating funds or food to Living Water, please consider doing it before the end of April so we can apply for these funds! THANK YOU!

Food From CURVES!

Today was the day! Curves delivered over 7558 lbs. of food to Living Water. This is the result of a contest they had. In addition to the food drive, they collected $1770.10 which equals 8950 lbs. of food. We are AMAZED with what people in Borger will do to help others. Thank you, Curves! And thank you, Borger, for your help!!

Becky Dietz, director of Living Water, and Clesta Collins, owner of Curves.

It's a convoy! The ladies from Curves walked the food to Living Water.

Clesta Collins, the owner of Curves, brings up the rear with the EOC guarding and escorting them.

These are the wonderful ladies from Curves who hand-delivered the food to Living Water. Thanks, girls!! (You look great, by the way!)

Oops! One little mishap--a cart got away from us. But we didn't cry over spilled beans.

The Living Water guys stepped in to help the Curves ladies pick up the spilled beans.

These are the wonderful Living Water volunteers who gave a morning to come help receive the food from Curves. Thanks, Guys!

Food safely in Living Water and ready to load on our shelves. Thanks again, Curves!! (We're waiting to hear if our Curves won the contest among other Curves!!)