Can Food Drive? Ends This Sunday!

This is from the AZLE NEWS
This is who we are helping.
Azle angels get their wings at Mission House
Friday, December 14, 2007
Gail Gilmore

Wanda Grayson

If the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life has it right, there are little bells ringing all over Azle as angels get their wings this Christmas season.
Wanda Grayson, director of Castle Hills Mission House food pantry, hears bells almost every day – but she’s also hearing the phone ring frequently as people in the area turn to her for help.
Tuesday morning while explaining to a visitor about how Mission House collects food all year, and Christmas gifts at this time of year, she took a call from a woman who needed help with groceries.

She also needed some laundry detergent. Grayson asked her to come by shortly for a box of food, which she would collect from the shelves of Mission House.
The laundry detergent wasn’t on hand, but Grayson said she could get the woman a jarful from Mission House’s supply.
One woman who counts on Mission House is a grandmother who took in her three grandkids but has only her kitchen for them to sleep in, Grayson said.
“Sometimes I just sit and cry with them,” she said of the people who come to her for help.
She also dispenses hugs freely as she listens to problems, challenges, mistakes and – most of all – dire needs. The kids in the kitchen, for instance, aren’t expecting Christmas, she said.

“They’re just glad to be in her kitchen.”
These kids and hundreds of others are getting Christmas because of Mission House, its volunteers and, most of all, the generosity of Azle area residents.
“Azle is a wonderful place to live,” Grayson said. “I know this will all be taken care of.”
Grayson, perfectly sized to be one of Santa’s elves, has a serene smile on her face, but she’s surrounded by partly empty shelves, even after at least three trips to North Texas Food Bank since her last pantry day.
There are 24 businesses in Azle that have angel trees up with children’s wishes.
Some of those businesses have called several times since the trees went up around Thanksgiving, Grayson said.
Their trees have been emptied and re-filled several times. Grayson and her volunteers have hauled out presents to make room for more.
The deadline for having gifts under those trees for Grayson to pick up is Nov. 19. There are 350 children whose Christmas wishes can be found somewhere around Azle – including area restaurants, banks, the Chamber of Commerce and the Azle News.
Grayson helped 161 families on her November pantry day. But she helped 385 people throughout the month because she comes through whenever someone in need calls.
Her next pantry day is Dec. 20. Mission House has peanut butter, but no jelly or bread.
There’s a shelf of salad dressing. But the shelves dedicated to pasta and sauce are empty.
The pantry needs cereal, macaroni and cheese, and cornbread stuffing mixes, among other family or kid-friendly foods that are non-perishable.
An angel arrived early this week and wrote out a $150 check so she can buy some of those things, at regular price if need be, she said.
Grayson and Mission House volunteers (about 10 “regularly” and another five she can call on) order from the North Texas Food Bank’s inventory list that’s sent out each week. They travel to near downtown Fort Worth each week and pick up supplies they can buy for as little as 18 cents per pound.
NTFB doesn’t always have what Mission House families need. And even with only one pantry day each month and four trips to the bank in between, the emergency calls continue all month.
And now Christmas is right around the corner, too.
Contact Mission House at 817-237-7086.