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TOP JOBS

By PATRICK BUTLER
Religion Editor

The A.W. Riter Jr. Foundation has issued a challenge to East Texans to assist People Attempting To Help expand its donor base. The foundation has made a $50,000 challenge grant for every dollar new donors give to the faith-based organization. The foundation will match dollar-for-dollar donations that add up to $50,000.

The challenge expires at the end of July.

An outpouring of financial donations to PATH came after an article appeared in the May 17 Religion section of the Tyler Paper, highlighting its financial needs. Reader responses to PATH will carry the nonprofit charity halfway through the summer months, said Christina Fulsom, executive director of PATH.

“We received $175,000 as a result of the May 17 article,” she said. “First, let me thank the wonderful Tyler community for their generosity during this critical time. The monies received will allow us to continue our ministry to the needy.”

But the summer months are “added expense” months for the needy, said Mrs. Fulsom, and it’s the latter half of summer that’s on her mind now. The challenge Ggrant is the answer, she said.

“The Challenge Grant is a wonderful opportunity for financial givers to double their donations,” she said. “But a condition of the grant is that the donations must come from new donors. We are appealing to those who’ve heard about the good work of PATH, but have never made a donation. The time is now.”

The yearly budget for PATH is $1.3 million, she said, and includes tens of thousands of people served with more coming each day. An article about PATH’s successful Produce Day on May 24 added 50 more needy people coming to receive free fruit and vegetables, courtesy of the East Texas Food Bank, which are distributed at the PATH Building, 402 W. Front St.

“With gas prices the way they are now, and expenditures going up, people are cutting back on nutrition, and that’s a dangerous way to go,” she said. “The consequences of an unhealthy diet on the part of some will eventually affect us all.”

Ongoing support is needed because the need simply does not go away.

“The truth is the needs of those struggling in poverty increase,” she said. “We know of people who didn’t need our help before, who now have to turn to PATH for food, utility assistance and medicine, life’s most basic necessities.”

PATH stretches every donor dollar for maximum effect, she said.

“There is little or no abuse on the part of those we see each day,” she said. “These are people who need a hand up, not a handout.”

It gets worse for the needy when it gets hot, she said.

“For those living in poverty, the summer is a time when surviving day-to-day takes all the energy one can summon, and no energy is left to plan for tomorrow. People have to have food to eat each day, have medicine when they are sick and electricity when the thermostat hits 100 degrees. We each have an opportunity to help improve the lives of others — a prayer, a smile, a can of soup, a dollar. Every small act makes a difference.”

To respond to the Riter Foundation challenge grant, call Mitzie Avera at 903-597-4044, extension 125.