Ma rket S t r e e t M i s s i o n
Messenger
Changing Lives Since 1889
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“Addiction is a
neverending
battle”
Don’t miss
Today, we’re delighted to bring you the
wonderful story of one of our alumnae who
graduated from our Life Change Program in
April 2013.
Leslie battled with drugs on and
off for years. He’d be clean for years
at a time and then relapse. His last
relapse was in 2012 at the age of 54.
“I knew I had to get myself out of
that trouble,” he says. “But at my age,
I didn’t know if I could do a program
again.”
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Leslie knew about our program
from his brother who had graduated
and gone into Leadership Training
to help others. “I knew I wouldn’t be
alone,” Leslie says.
Despite having his brother here
at the Mission, Leslie’s first few weeks
were hard. “You sleep on a mattress on
the floor in the chapel, and you have to
take orders and follow rules,” he says.
“I kept saying I might leave, but then
“I think I’ll be homeless today”
14 Tons of Food!
“Living in the Light”
I realized it was working…I was going
to get through it!”
“I was feeling good. My body
was changing and I was feeling
the way I wanted to feel again.”
Before he knew it, Leslie was
getting ready to graduate!
Today, Leslie has his own place.
He’s working as his health allows him
to (he was diagnosed with emphysema
while here at the Mission), and he
comes back to the Mission “every
chance I get!”
“I mingle with the new guys,” he
says with a smile. “I try to tell them my
story. [When I was here], people were
taking bets that I wouldn’t stay, and I
proved a lot of people wrong. Now, I
walk with my head up!”
9 M arket Street • M orristown, NJ 07960-5122 • (973) 538-0431 • w w w.marketstreet.org
A Message from
G. David Scott
I don’t think anyone
has ever gotten out of
bed in the morning and
said, “Gee, I think I’ll be
homeless today.”
People are here for a
reason.
Some are simply seeking a
hot meal or a night of shelter.
Many more are looking
for help and a refuge – a
shelter in God that can save
and restore lives ruined by
alcohol, addiction, abuse and
abandonment.
Matthew 7:7 clearly
describes the refuge and
shelter found here at the
Mission: “Ask and it will be
given to you; seek and you
will find; knock and the door
will be opened to you.”
All in need are welcome
here, just as they have been
since our doors were opened
over 125 years ago.
But it is only with your
prayers and your support
that we can continue to be a
refuge for those who knock.
Thank you, and God bless
you for all you do.
G. David Scott
Executive Director
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A special gift to thank
you for your support.
Thank you for feeding people
who are hungry.
Thank you for making sure
homeless people have safe shelter.
Thank you for your prayers on
behalf of those in need.
Thank you for offering hope and
new life!
As a tangible way of showing our
gratitude, I’d like to send you a very
special 2015 calendar.
Please check the “send” box on
your reply slip. Your calendar will be
mailed at the end of November.
Attention Senior Centers
Algia Sings the Hits
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n honor of the Mission’s 125th
anniversary, Algia, one of New
Jersey’s finest entertainers, has offered
to perform a one-hour show at senior
centers across New Jersey, with all
proceeds donated to the Mission. A
musician, singer and recording artist,
Algia has delighted audiences from the
Tavern on the Green in Central Park
to the Waldorf Astoria. You can enjoy
Algia’s styling of current hits for just
$125, with all proceeds going to the
Mission. For more information, visit
algiasingsthehits.com, or contact
at [email protected] or (732) 2452360.
14 tons of food!
22,500 meals. That’s 27,000 pounds of
food – close to 14 tons! That’s how much
food the Market Street Mission will serve
to hungry men, women and children this
Thanksgiving season.
Wow! That seems
impossible. But with your
help, it will happen.
It costs just
$2.82 to feed one
hungry person.
Just $2.82
to provide
an entire
meal of
wholesome, home-cooked food…a meal
that could not only help that person end a
life of homelessness, but a meal that could
be the start of a new and better life.
Your gift today to our 2014 Annual
Thanksgiving Campaign will go a long
way toward filling the Mission’s pantry and
providing the care hungry and homeless
men, women and children will need this
Thanksgiving season and beyond.
Just a reminder: The Mission
receives NO government funding. So we
really do need your help to cook and serve
more than 22,500 meals.
Please, give generously.
Thank you!
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Now the Lord
God planted a
garden…
Living in
the Light
R
ay had been drinking and using
drugs for 45 years. “I didn’t have
any clean time,” he says. “Along
the way, I lost everything. I got
divorced, lost my job, my house, my
driving privileges and all my good
friends.”
Finally, Ray went into rehab. “I
don’t know what made me change my
mind to seek help, but I did,” he says.
Although Ray completed the
rehab program, he knew he needed
more help to maintain a life of
sobriety, and begged for a referral to a
long-term program. “They said they
had the best place for me—that
was the Market Street Mission,”
Ray says. “I came from their front
door to this front door.”
Ray went through the Mission’s
seven-month Life Change Program,
receiving room, board, clothing, work
therapy, addiction classes and spiritual
nurturing from people he discovered
were truly invested in his recovery.
“The people that run the Mission, the
teachers, they all care,” he says. “It’s
easy to say you care or that you prayed
for someone, but when you show it,
that means a lot to me.”
The program’s chapel, Bible
studies, compassionate staff, volunteers
and donors have worked together to
help Ray develop a relationship with
the Lord. “It took me awhile—about
eight months—to go to church and
find out people really do care, like the
people that donate,” he says.
Our grateful thanks to Beyond the
Walls ministry of Medham Hills
Community Church and to Don
Covart of Fox Hollow Landscaping for
transforming the grounds around
the Mission’s Thrift Store and
our Men’s Transitional House. We
thank everyone who took part in this
wonderful work. You can see more
photos on our Facebook page!
“Today, I can actually say I do
believe in God…I read the Bible
every night and I believe if you read
it and go by what the Bible says, you
will be much better off. The darkness
brings death, divorce, misery. It always
brought me shame and guilt. I live in
the light now.”
Ray’s new life includes
restored relationships with his
children. “They only wanted one
thing for me and that was for me to
become clean and sober,” he says.
“They are really happy.”
Ray has now graduated from the
program, and is working in the Mission’s
warehouse, which allows him to live
at the Mission and inspire the men
currently in the program. “A couple of
times, I spoke in chapel and I tell these
guys, ‘I know how you feel.’ They ask
how I stayed in this program. It was
because I wanted it…It is what you put
into it,” he says. “When I see them do
well, it makes me feel really good.”
2014 Annual
Thanksgiving
Campaign
22,500 meals
7,500 nights of shelter
Our guests may not
know you, but your
presence is felt each and
every day!
Project Backpack
benefits 1,200
1,200 smiling
faces! 1,200
youngsters with
backpacks full
of supplies that
enabled them to
start the school
year off right!
Our thanks to
the individuals,
churches and businesses who made
this year’s Project Backpack a great
success!
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Hungry for
Change?
Golf Tournament Scores
a Hole-in-One
A great big thank you to The Friends of the Market
Street Mission and this year’s honoree Allan Janoff,
owner of the Crystal Plaza. With over 100 golfers
in attendance, this 3rd annual event held at the
Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park, NJ raised
close to $30,000 to support the Mission and its
programs. Our thanks also to our many volunteers
and sponsors for taking part in this event.
National Hunger & Homelessness
Awareness Week, Nov. 16-22.
We all want to end hunger and
homelessness.
Here’s your chance to bring
together your family, friends,
neighbors, coworkers, people
from your church, school
or civic group to lessen the
hardships that hungry and
homeless men, women and
children face each day.
» Serve a meal here at the
Mission
» Organize a drive
° Canned food
° Clothing, especially coats
& jackets for cold weather
° Hygiene items
° Socks and underwear
° Sheets & blankets
» Skip lunch & donate the
money to the Mission
For more information, contact
Nancy Motley at (973) 538-6337.
Thank You Mairead and The Peck School
T
he Market Street Mission was
so pleased and thankful to meet
Mairead Studdiford from The Peck
School on Wednesday, June 18.
Mairead brought 2 large boxes of
clothes collected at The Peck
School for less fortunate people in our
community. The Mission is celebrating
125 years of service to Morris County
and could not do this wonderful work
without the help of great people like
Mairead and great schools like The
Peck School. Thank you, thank you,
thank you from all of us.
Here’s my 2014
Annual Thanksgiving Campaign gift:
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$16.92 to feed and care for 6 people
$28.20 to feed and care for 10 people
$50.76 to feed and care for 18 people
$_________ to help as much as possible
Send me my FREE 2015 Mission Calendar.
You can find out more information
about the work at Market Street
at www.marketstreet.org.
Make checks payable to the Market Street Mission.
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Check enclosed
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Bill my credit card
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CREDIT CARD #
EXP. DATE
PHONE #
Donate online at www.marketstreet.org or call (973)
538-4819. To donate goods, call (973) 538-0427.
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NAME
_________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS
_________________________________________________________________
CITY / STATE/ ZIP
Market Street Mission
P.O. Box 1937
Morristown, NJ 07962-1937
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E-MAIL
FALL14
Please return this completed form with your donation. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law. You will receive a receipt.