Good Samaritan soup kitchen faces food shortage

LAUREL, Miss - The Good Samaritan Center needs help with a huge truck repair. At the end of January, the center’s only donation pick-up truck broke down and now the organization is facing repairs costing $13,500.

Director of Communications, Joanna Puddister King said, "Since then we have been unable to get food to any of our food pantries."

The kitchen is feeding the community with local donations that may run out soon.

"We are going to do our best with the little bit we do have and we have been blessed by some donations" said King.

The truck picks up low-cost food from the Mississippi Food Network, but without it Laurel's Chief of Police Tyrone Stewart mentions it will be hard for the community.

"It is a big deal because if the do not have a vehicle to actually transport the canned goods and the foods to this location, there is going to be a lot of people that is going to be hungry" said Chief Stewart.

Bobby Hawthorne who visits the soup kitchen said he was going to donate to the kitchen.

"I mean to get one hot meal a day it is very important to a lot of us, there should be more programs like this for the kids. I mean you would be surprised, when they (kids) leave here with smiles on their face, I mean I come here every chance I get to have this hot meal, and it is very important" Hawthorne said.

Donations can be made to the truck fund at www.goodsamaritancenter.org. In addition to the website, a concerned employee created a GoFundMe page to help with donations as well

(www.gofundme.com/bigtruckrepair).