RUSK – Pesona airs at the Rusk Civic Center on Saturdays where a fashion show is being held for the benefit of the Rusk Cares organization – Good Samaritan.
Twenty local women from the Rusk community modeled several dresses which included prom dresses, mother of the bride dresses, bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses and bridal gowns. Dresses come in a variety of sizes from 2 to 3X, many with labels still attached to them that come from well-known and high-end stores such as Neiman Marcus, Dillard’s and David’s Bridal.
Rusk Cares – Good Samaritan is a faith-based non-profit company that provides food to food insecure people and families living in the ISD Rusk region.
Mona Burford, Rusk Cares – President of the council of the Good Samaritans, said the profits had been made over two years, with nearly 100 dresses up for auction, and to her knowledge the first fashion show to be held in Rusk.
“We’ve received a lot of beautiful dresses over the years and decided last year to start putting aside really good dresses for future fashion shows,” said Burford.
The events included a raffle for meat donated by Dyess Processing and a stealth auction featuring stylish accessories and shoes, some of which were donated by Burford himself.
“I have donated three pairs of stilettos for which I paid over $ 100 each and only worn once for a special occasion. One of them was Bush’s inauguration at the Washington DC Time to let others get as much pleasure from them as I did, “he said.
Burford said he hopes the event will help supplement the organization’s funding, which comes from local donations from community churches, its residents and occasional small grants for food from the East Texas Food Bank at Tyler and the United Fund.
“Our client base has increased substantially due to COVID. We distribute nearly 400 boxes of food every month by 2020, with the cost of purchasing food increasing from $ 1,600 in January 2020 to nearly $ 6,000 per month in December 2020, “he said.” We have to reduce the number of boxes a family can accommodate. receive from two to one per month because our donation cannot cover the cost of food. “
Burford says a typical lunch box includes 12 cans of a wide variety of vegetables and fruit; six cans of various kinds of canned protein such as tuna, chicken, meat-based soup; cooking oil; pancake mix and syrup; peanut butter; two pounds of rice and beans; two boxes of macaroni and cheese; a packet of spaghetti; instant mashed potatoes; milk powder; dried fruit or nuts; snack bar; four maid dinner packages; a big bag of cereal.
In addition to a lunch box, a family also receives 15 to 20 pounds of frozen meat, such as chicken (whole, quarter, or breast), roast pork, and ground beef.
“We set a target of $ 50,000 in October for our 2021 food budget. We have achieved 50% of that goal to date, “said Burford.” This amount of money will sustain our food pantry if we continue to bring out one lunchbox per family per month. To return to two boxes per family per month more funds are needed. “
Donations of money can be paid to Good Samaritan, PO Box 632, Rusk, TX 75785. Clothing and small household items can be donated to their thrift shop at 201 W Second St. in Rusk. Proceeds from store sales are used to purchase food purchases.