Donation increases efficiency of Good Samaritan Program
Friday, Feb. 03, 2017
Courtesy photo
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Greg Reed, senior vice president of member services for Security Service Federal Credit Union, presents a check to the Cathedral of the Madeleine's Good Samaritan program. Also shown are Darren Williams, director of the Good Samaritan Program, and Fr. Martin Diaz, the cathedral rector.
SALT LAKE CITY — A new industrial-grade meat and cheese slicer will make it easier for the Good Samaritan Program at the Cathedral of the Madeleine to continue to hand out sack lunches, as it has since 1987.
The slicer was purchased through a $4,800 donation from Security Service Credit Union’s Charitable Foundation.
“The old slicer we had was not adequate for what we had to do,” said Darren Williams, director of the Good Samaritan Program. “It was just not powerful enough.”
The new self-propelled slicer “should benefit the program for years to come,” he said.
By handing out 9,000 sandwiches each month, the Good Samaritan Program helps provide basic needs to the homeless in Salt Lake City.
The program is kept running through volunteer work and charitable donations. The volunteers make sandwiches, pack them with other items in sack lunches, and hand the meals out to those who come each day to the door of the Good Samaritan.
The donation from Security Service Credit Union came about because a Good Samaritan volunteer was also involved with their charitable foundation and suggested that it consider contributing to the program at the cathedral.
The Charitable Foundation only considers donating to organizations that are nominated internally, said Brandy Ralston-Lint, SSFCU’s senior vice president of corporate communications. “We believe in giving back to the community, through our [volunteer] efforts, but also monetarily,” she said. “We have a strong commitment to the communities we work in.”
The check from the charitable foundation was presented to Williams and cathedral rector Father Martin Diaz on Jan. 11.
Fr. Diaz said he was very pleased when the credit union contacted the Good Samaritan Program about making a donation.
“Donations like this keep [the Good Samaritan Program’s] doors open,” he said.
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