From the Rev. J. D. Brown, Holy Trinity in Garland: In the wake of the recent tornadoes that ravaged the North Texas region the day after Christmas, Holy Trinity in Garland will host 15 students from Minnesota State University, who are visiting during spring break to work on Habitat for Humanity projects in Garland, scheduled for March 6-12.  They will sleep on cots in the parish hall and have meals prepared by chapters of the Brotherhood of St Andrew and the ladies of Holy Trinity's "Mary-Martha's".  The congregation will join them on Wednesday night, March 9th, for a special parish Potluck Supper to thank them for all they are doing for our community.

From Deacon Diana Luck, St. Matthew's Cathedral: 

In the aftermath of the tornadoes, Dean Michell, Deacon Mark and Deacon Diana met and talked about how to best respond.  The congregation has been generous in donating items and money.  However, we decided that it would be good to "adopt" a family, rather than just sending items and gift cards to a distribution center.

 Thanks to the efforts of Deacon Bonnie Morrell, who walked the streets of Rowlett, we were introduced to the Goodwin family.  Jennie and Jeremy are a delightful young couple with three children, Hannah, Savannah and Elijah.  The girls are lovely and polite. They both attend school in Rowlett. Elijah is a very, very active 2 ½ year old.  He has autism, which manifests itself in non-stop motion and an inability to speak.  However, he has a winning smile and loves playing with other children. They adopted Elijah 1 ½ years ago.  Jeremy works for a printer and Jennie is a stay at home mom. They have been through so much, but their faith in the goodness of God is strong.

The Goodwins have been living in a hotel room ever since the tornado destroyed their home, as you can see by the pictures below.  They are able to do renovation work, so are in the process of buying a "fixer-upper".  However, they lost everything...furniture, clothing, dishes, pots and pans, linens.... nothing was left.

At this time, we are waiting to find out exactly what they are going to need when they finally get out of the hotel and into their new home.  In the meantime, if you have items you think they might be able to use, please let Deacon Diana or Deacon Mark know.  Gift cards for Sears, Target, Walmart, Home Depot or cash cards are certainly welcome anytime.  Just pass them on to one of the deacons. If you would like to make a monetary donation you can make checks payable to St. Matthew's and it will be distributed according to need. All questions or concerns can be directed to Deacon Diana at .

Please hold Jeremy, Jennie, Hannah, Savannah and Elijah in your prayers, as they have much yet to do before their lives are back to normal.  The ministry of St. Matthew's has already started making a difference in their lives and they are very grateful.