Donations needed to help less fortunate

The holiday season can be a happy time when families get together. However, for the less fortunate, it’s just another time to struggle to exist.

St. Mary Outreach is a private, nonprofit temporary emergency service agency that serves the east part of St. Mary Parish from Amelia to Patterson and helps people help themselves during tough times.

The nonprofit group serves about 250 to 350 clients monthly with that number doubling in the summer and usually tripling in the fourth quarter, said Brenda Liner, executive director of St. Mary Outreach. All recipients are carefully screened, she said.

St. Mary Outreach operates on donations from foundations, civic organizations, churches, businesses and individuals. It holds fundraisers and applies for grants as well.

Monetary donations are down over 35 percent this year, but the need for services has steadily increased, Liner said. The biggest need right now is helping people pay rent and utility bills.

Rent assistance has risen 40 percent, and utilities assistance has more than doubled from last year, she said. The organization saw an uptick in the number of people needing assistance within the past year during the sweltering summer months and frigid weather in December 2017 and January, Liner said.

Assistance paying utility bills and providing shelter for the homeless are especially necessary during extreme weather conditions, Liner said.

The agency also has a food bank, clothing closet, hygiene and cleaning supplies, baby formula and diapers, and school uniforms and supplies.

Liner stressed that St. Mary Outreach isn’t a “monthly service” and that people are encouraged to sustain themselves, live within their means and only seek assistance in emergencies.

Many families are still feeling the effects from the economic downturn as many people who used to work offshore are now working lower-paying jobs, Liner said.

Residents in the community are learning to adjust to having half or one-third of their previous income.

“But you can’t adjust overnight, because those bills don’t just disappear,” Liner said.

Seventy families in need will receive a Thanksgiving dinner basket from St. Mary Outreach this holiday.

Proper budgeting is important, but many clients of St. Mary Outreach don’t have enough money to cover their basic needs, Liner said.

For those who apply for food stamps, it takes 30 days for people to start receiving them from the date of their application.

“A month is a long time to wait for food,” Liner said.

Every six months, food stamp recipients must re-certify. If they don’t get a re-certification letter, then they are cut off and have to start over in the application process. Trying to get disability assistance can be a multi-year process, too, she said.

From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Dec. 4, St. Mary Outreach will collect donations at M C Bank & Trust on Victor II Boulevard to replenish the organization’s food bank. Organizers will accept nonperishable food items, hygiene and cleaning supplies, and monetary donations.

Donations may also be sent to St. Mary Outreach’s address at 608 1st St., Suite 102 in Morgan City. Donors will receive a tax receipt. For questions, call St. Mary Outreach at 985-385-0525.