MUST Ministries kicks off school year with generous gift to help children in need

Marietta, GA – July 26, 2016 --- Hundreds of children will return to Cobb and Marietta schools with their lunchroom debt wiped clean, thanks to the generosity of MUST Ministries. The faith-based charity made significant contributions to Cobb County School District and Marietta City School District to clear the students’ meal account balance of 4,300 children.

Many of these students are the same children MUST feeds all summer in their expansive Summer Lunch program. “Out of a deep compassion to serve our children, MUST Ministries made one-time donations to cover the existing balance for students’ meal accounts from this past school year,” said Dr. Ike Reighard, president and CEO of MUST Ministries.

“We serve 34,000 people in need a year and 22,000 of them are our most vulnerable clients – children. Their situations tug at our hearts,” he continued. Reighard explained that MUST launched Summer Lunch on May 31, and the bulk of those served are students helped by these school donations. MUST is serving 6,500 children every weekday in seven counties during the summer break from school. “What a perfect way to honor our summer program children,” he said, “by helping those little ones we spend weeks with in the Summer Lunch program.”

The more than $9,000 generous gift to the schools are coming from undesignated funds given to MUST to help people in need. “An effective community is a partnership, and helping children is one of the most important things we do,” Reighard said. The MUST vision is to be Georgia’s most respected servant leader.

“This is what leaders do. They are generous to others for the betterment of the community. Not only do we serve Summer Lunch to many of these same students, but also distribute food every month from our Save It Forward school food pantries.” He said that MUST now coordinates 22 school food pantries - 20 in Cobb and 2 in Marietta.

According to Superintendent Chris Ragsdale of the Cobb County School District, the one-time offer from MUST is deeply appreciated. “We are grateful for the partnership with MUST and their donation to our school meal program. Since MUST began 45 years ago, they have been a servant leader in our community and a strong supporter of education. We are thankful for all they do to help our students stay fed and their continued support of children of Cobb County,” he said.

Marietta City Schools Superintendent Dr. Emily Lembeck added, “MUST Ministries has been a long-standing icon of support for our students and families. MUST has always been there to assist our school counselors and social workers in helping students and their families with their basic needs,” she said. “This recent support is very special because it was an unexpected and unrequested donation. A ‘blessing’ is a good word to use for a deed and partnership such as this.”