Year: 2019

By Marci McPhee, JustServe Specialist San Antonio East Stake  

A soundtrack of Christmas music coming from the Mobile Food Pantry reminded patrons and volunteers that it was, indeed, December, the season in which we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, despite the 70 degree weather.

Once again, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (San Antonio East Stake) and Catholic Charities partnered to distribute food to those in need on December 14, 2019. The Mobile Food Pantry called “Hope Mobile” visits the Buena Vista building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 655 Castroville Road each month on the second Saturday. Volunteers from both churches and the local community, including college students, assisted patrons in filling out forms and carrying their food. 

One of the volunteers wore a bright pink shirt with the passage Jeremiah 29:11, which reads, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (New International Version). It was a good reminder of God’s loving care for ALL his children and his watchfulness over the path of each person, regardless of their circumstances.

One of the volunteers, Bishop Michael Panter of the Pleasanton 1st Ward, said, “As I’ve been serving as bishop, one of the things that brings the most joy to me is going out and helping people. It’s great that there are people here from different backgrounds and different churches, all working together to achieve one common goal: to help those in need. I’ve seen some needs that have happened in my own family. But the ability to help others — strangers that they don’t know, even though there are struggles going on in their own lives — really does bring joy.” 

Especially during the Christmas season, assisting the hungry is a way to serve that infant Savior of us all.

By Tony Uminski, San Antonio Stake Media Relations Specialist

The San Antonio Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did its part to bring the spirit of Christmas to the Alamo City this weekend. Stake members gathered 171 nativity sets, filled the Church building cultural hall in festive décor and arranged the crèche scenes in a subdued, atmosphere for the estimated 600 visitors for the event.

“It’s beautiful to see all the different representations of the Savior’s birth from all the cultures and nations of the earth,” said Stake President Adam Gonzalez. “We have a couple here – one’s Mexican, which is my ancestry – and one from Ecuador, where our son served his mission.”

Along with the nativity displays, ward choirs performed in the lobbies and in the chapel, while children worked industriously in the Primary Room on arts and crafts projects. Hot chocolate and Christmas cookies were available as well.

Event organizers also prepared a scavenger hunt to help visitors stop and pause at each table, seeking out the snowman set, the set with the most animals, the smallest set and a nativity from Asia and South America.

“It’s interesting how the birth of one little child 2,000 years ago has touched all the people of the world and you can see how different people celebrate his birth,“ President Gonzalez noted.

Another visitor marveled at the amount of nativities on display.

“I’ve been to ward activities similar to this, but not on this scale,” said Talley Ward member Roland Fritter. “Maybe one-fourth of this. And some of these pieces coming from so far away, Ukraine, Japan, Madagascar. I think it’s just amazing. It shows the gospel is around the world.”

The event mirrored the efforts of members of the North Stake, hunkered down in the Stone Oak area of northern Bexar County, which sponsored a similar, although even more massive program in the past. One year, there were over 250 sets on display at that event.

Mary Shipley, the San Antonio Stake Relief Society President and project leader said, “It’s been so wonderful. It’s been a huge success.” 

Stake members volunteered in the many hours of service going back to August for the planning stage to this past week’s implementation stage, where the displays were collected and arranged, the hall decorated with trees, lights, with soft Christmas music playing in the background.

“The chapel was filled for the performance there (Friday night),” added Sister Shipley. “It just goes to show the talent we have in our stake. And everything just came together.”

The two-day may just turn into an annual event as Sister Shipley said, “People have been asking if we’re going to be doing this again next year and we’re like, ‘let’s just see how this year works out.’” 

From the looks on the faces of nativity set admirers, cookie munchers and choir listeners, it’s a good bet the program on SW Military inside Loop 1604 near Sea World will have an encore performance in 2020.

By: Peter Hightower, Area Media Relations Specialist

Gisela Letz, the Volunteer Director of the Val Verde County Loaves and Fishes knows several members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints very well. Her husband has worked on Laughlin Air Force Base for years with several stalwart members in the community and the new Del Rio City Manager, Matthew Wojnowski, serves in the District Presidency. It was through these relationships that she was made aware of the resources available to her organization through the Church’s worldwide welfare programs.

Letz and her husband started their food pantry about 15 years ago, initially operating out of their small church. In the beginning, they were able to serve about 35 families per month. From 2004 to 2011 their outreach grew to the point they were serving over 500 families every month. It was around that time that she was approached by a local pastor who also worked for the 87th Flying Squadron at Laughlin AFB. The squadron wanted to become a regular sponsor and hold an annual fundraiser to benefit her food pantry. After the first fundraiser raised $40,000, she moved into a dedicated building, an abandoned elementary school donated by the local school district, and changed the name of her program to Val Verde Loaves and Fishes. She registered as a 501c3 non-profit and began seeking larger regular sponsors in the community. 

Today, Letz and her staff serve over 1,300 families every month in a community that only has a total population of 33,000. “And there is still a lot more we could be doing” she adds. The winter holidays are a trying time for her organization when demand for food it at its highest. Wojnowski, who serves as a counselor to District President Ross Davidson, mentioned the prospect of assisting Letz’s program with a large food donation from Church Headquarters in Salt Lake City. President Davidson enthusiastically supported the idea, especially after having helped to coordinate large truck-load donations to other organizations throughout his district. 

By working with the San Antonio Area Coordinating Council and the North America Southwest Area Presidency, Davidson and Wojnowski were able to secure a large truckload of dried and canned food goods for Letz’s organization. Twenty-five pallets totaling 39,000 pounds were delivered just in time for the Thanksgiving rush. The donation included holiday staples such as turkey, potatoes, corn and beans as well as many other daily use items such as canned fruit, pancake mix, soups and peanut butter. Letz could hardly hold back her tears of joy as she surveyed the nearly overflowing warehouse. “This is just amazing! It is. It’s just so wonderful!” She said. 

The delivery also helped make introductions to help her meet on-going needs for regular volunteer. The six full time missionaries currently serving in Del Rio have committed to helping stuff donation bags once per month for up to three hours. “They’ve only been coming for a few weeks but they’re already my favorite volunteers! They’re so positive and upbeat and just willing to do whatever we need done. We just absolutely love them!” 

President Davidson agreed with Letz and all accounts and added “This is what we do. We love following the example of our Savior by helping those in need. He taught us to love our neighbors and to care for the needy. And when we can accomplish that through a wonderful partnership with people like Gisela and her staff, that’s even better. We’re all better for it.”

By Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist

Haven for Hope sent out a call for help ahead of the cold weather expected this past week. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints answered the call. Fifteen members of the Church’s San Pedro Ward, including 4 Sister missionaries from the Texas San Antonio Mission went to sort donations and hang up warm weather clothing ahead of the dropping temperatures.

San Pedro Bishop Bruce Baillio said, “We only knew that we were going to work in the warehouse sorting donations. When we got our assignment, it turns out that we were tasked with opening bundles of warm clothing that were donated by the Church last year.”

They opened up the bundles and hung them on to rolling clothes rack to make the clothing more accessible to those who will come seeking the warm clothing. Bishop Baillio said, “They still had 30 or 40 bundles from the original donation. Out of the five bundles we sorted, we estimated that there were around 250 – 300 coats, jackets and sweaters for all ages.” Continue reading “Warmth for San Antonio”

by Leisa Parsons, Area Media Specialist

Missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints know how to serve. Wearing their name tags designates them as disciples of Jesus Christ. As disciples of Jesus Christ, they strive hard to follow His example through service to others. The San Antonio Food Bank recognized the Texas San Antonio Mission of the Church as their 2019 Volunteer of the year. In it’s 22nd Annual Harvest of Hope luncheon and fundraiser, the San Antonio Food Bank recognized the outstanding volunteer work of the Church’s missionaries over the past year.

Jason Tveten, President of the Texas San Antonio Mission, said in a video produced for the luncheon, “… we search out organizations that are doing good in the community and we are very happy to support them with materials and with labor. For us it’s important to follow the example of Jesus Christ. In the scriptures, in the Book of Mormon it talks about, ‘When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are in the service of your God.’ and we believe that very strongly. We believe in the mission of the San Antonio Food Bank — the outreach it does and the Christlike service it provides to our brothers and sisters.” Continue reading “Harvest of Hope to Help Hunger”

By Ken Jarvis, Area Media Specialist

Representatives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and San Antonio area charities were milling about in the front lobby of the San Antonio Food Bank waiting for a truckload of food to arrive from Salt Lake City.  As they waited, they talked about their common interest; service.  

One of the people waiting was Amy Aguiñaga, Director of West Avenue Compassion, a food and clothing pantry.  They would receive about a quarter of today’s truckload.  “I compare us to a small convenience store,” she said.  “For example, on Tuesdays we do a massive food distribution.  We come out to the Food Bank, get the food, pack it all up and distribute it.”

But her relationship with the Latter-day Saint Church isn’t just about commodities or service one day a week.  Elder and Sister Taggart, San Antonio Mission Senior missionaries, not only volunteer there, they help coordinate the younger missionaries who volunteer their service hours at West Avenue Compassion.  Continue reading “Missionaries Help Local Charity Meet Community Needs”

By: Peter Hightower, Area Media Specialist

Once a person decides to serve their neighbor, often times they don’t get to choose how that service will be manifest or who will be most in need of that service. When Pastor Becky Ballou of the First United Methodist Church in Eagle Pass, Texas started the non-profit Mission Border Hope several years back, she imagined that her coordinated outreach efforts would focus on victims of domestic violence and the homeless in her community. She had no idea at the time that her humble project would soon become a critical partner in caring for thousands of refugees and asylum seekers flooding the international border that runs through her sleepy little town. 

So far in 2019 record numbers of asylum seekers have arrived all along the Southwest Border between the United States and Mexico, but the tiny town of Eagle Pass was hit particularly hard. Neither the Border Patrol nor city officials were adequately prepared for the sudden increase in traffic. The official numbers published by Customs and Border Protection^[1] report that 432,838 total Family Units^[2] were apprehended on the Southwest Border from October 2018 to July 2019 (FY19TD JUL) compared to 77,794 from the same period of the prior year (FY18TD JUL). In the Del Rio Sector, which Eagle Pass belongs to, the numbers surged from 2,109 in FY18TD to 26,904 in FY19TD, a 1,176% increase in apprehensions of Family units. The sheer number of asylum seekers overwhelmed Border Patrol stations large and small all along the border. 

Border Patrol stations by nature are intended to be short-term processing facilities designed to securely hold an apprehended subject for only as long as it takes to identify the individual and determine their legal fate after crossing the international boundary. Under ideal conditions, a person will spend only a few hours in the Border Patrol station before being released or turned over to a separate agency for long-term care and disposition. Large influxes of migrants such as that experienced this year complicate a normally smoothly run system and strain the resources available to the stations. Once the Border Patrol started releasing Family Units due to the overwhelming numbers, border communities from San Diego to Brownsville suddenly found themselves responsible for the care and transport of thousands of people. Unprepared local governments were quickly overwhelmed and turned to faith-based organizations for assistance. This is where Pastor Becky and her group, Mission Border Hope, discovered they were perfectly situated to fill the sudden critical need. Continue reading “A Mission of Hope on the Border”

By Marci McPhee, JustServe Specialist San Antonio East Stake

“My granddaughter just got out of prison and we could sure use the food,” said an elderly woman with a large multigenerational family under her roof.

That family was one of many families helped on Saturday, October 12, thanks to the ongoing partnership between Catholic Charities and the San Antonio East Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The partnership supports a monthly visit of the Mobile Food Pantry called “Hope Mobile” at the Las Palmas Building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 655 Castroville Road. This month, a team of members from the High Country Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith volunteered alongside college students from local schools, who were there to help and to gain valuable community experience.

Some visitors knew about the pantry because of signs in the neighborhood; others heard about it through social media and word of mouth, especially from members of the Church who worship in that building, who reached out to neighbors and friends. One sister even provided warm rice pudding for the volunteers on that chilly autumn day. Continue reading “Help on Wheels: The Mobile Food Pantry”

By Ken Jarvis, Area Media Specialist

The buzzer sounds as the ball goes into play. Both teams scramble for control but instead of shoes squeaking on the hardwood, the crowd hears the sound of metal creaking and straining under the stress of players grappling and colliding.  

This isn’t your average basketball game.  It’s a match between the San Antonio Para Sports athletes including wounded veterans and the O’Conner High School varsity basketball team. Everybody is in a wheelchair.  

O’Conner varsity player, Jackson Vaughn, organized this game in order to raise money to buy a sports wheelchair for another teenager who loves basketball.  The wheelchair will be a gift for Izaiah Merritte, a 14-year-old basketball player who outgrew his old sports wheelchair.  Vaughn said he loves playing basketball and wants other kids to have an opportunity to play as well, no matter how they get around.  Continue reading “Eagle Project Raises Funds for Sports Wheelchair”