Dear Friends,

I am sure most of you are aware of Sand Branch Texas, located 15 miles from downtown Dallas and a couple of miles from Seagoville. It is a nine block unincorporated community located in Dallas County, yet has no county services—no drinking water, sewer or trash pickup. You can google this community and readily see the plight of this community in it’s effort to secure fresh, clean water from the County. Pastor Keahey of Mount Zion Baptist Church located in Sand Branch is the advocate, spokesperson and catalyst for upgrading the community.

In addition to water, accessing healthy, affordable food is problematic for residents of Sand Branch as well as neighboring communities. Fortunately Sand Branch, in cooperation with the North Texas Food Bank, has become a regional food distribution center for southeast Dallas county.  Pallets of food and water are delivered to Mount Zion Baptist Church each Saturday morning.  Because there is no suitable place to store the supplies, they must be distributed by the end of the day.  Rev. Keahey's vision is to upgrade the existing fellowship hall into a food pantry - open on weekends and during the week.

St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Dallas learned of the food and pantry issue and has rallied to try and make a difference. With the help of a contractor who is donating time, the church is working with Pastor Keahey to develop a plan for the construction of a new food pantry on site. While the church has already raised $3,500, more monetary donations are needed as well as in-kind donations such as tools and supplies. In addition, many volunteers will be needed for demolition work, providing food for workers, construction and more. The tentative time frame for the project will include three weeks during the month of June. Andy Rohrbacher, at 214-802-2634,  is the contact for this ministry and is available to talk to groups about this project.  Please contact Andy directly to learn how you, your organization or congregation can get involved. This is truly a blessing! 

Dabney Dwyer, Missioner for Mission and Outreach