8/4/2019 The Relief Report: Demand for Food Increases in NYC

1/2

Relief Bus

The Relief Bus goes to the Bronx every week

helping to aide not only the homeless, but those

who fear becoming homeless as well. For many

people, the bus is a lifeline to supplement their

diet so that they dont have to choose between

eating or paying the rent. Now is the time torespond with compassion.

Whoever

is generous

to the poor

lends to the

LORD, and

He will repay

him for his

deed.

Proverbs

19:7

The increased demand for food has exceeded

the allotted budget. The Relief Bus needs help

to respond with provision. Will you consider

giving to feed hungry families and individu-

als in their time of need?

This summer,

temperatures

have skyrocketed

to 108 degrees on

the streets of New

York City! Whilethe heat has been

brutal for staff and

volunteers, it has

been even more

so for the home-

less and destitute.

Many come to the

bus for cold drinks

to cool off, but

demand has also

greatly increased

for food. Recently

our staff

has had to

increase the amount of soup, bread and fruit that

we bring on our outreaches.

A poll by the Institute for Children, Poverty and

Homelessness, a national re-

search group, shows that 47%

of people living in the Bronxare anxious about becoming

homeless due to poverty, unem-

ployment and lack of education.

The South Bronx is the poorest

congressional district in America.

New Yorkers are telling our staff

daily that they are afraid of losing

their apartments soon because of

social service programs that are

being eliminated.

DEMAND FOR FOOD INCREASES IN NYC

ese Things We Do...That Others May Live.

R e p o r t

T h e

velyn eating some soup in the Bronx

School kids stop for

a cold drink

Mail your tax-deductible gift in

enclosed

envelope or GIV

ONLINE at

www.reliefbus.o

THANK YOU!

Ernis eating in the North Bronx

8/4/2019 The Relief Report: Demand for Food Increases in NYC

2/2

Please join our monthly support team today for $25, $50, $100 or more so that The Relief Bcan continue for another 20 years, working to transform the communities we serve in.

All gifts are tax-deductible. Make your check out to The Relief Bus and mail in orgive online at www.reliefbus.org. Thanks for caring.

The Relief Bus, P.O. Box 64 Times Square P.O., New York, NY 10108800.736.2773, www.reliefbus.org, info@reliefbus.org

Facebook.com/thereliefbus Twitter.com/thereliefbus

>>>Go to

www.reliefbus.org/videogallery.php

to watch the video of the testimony

shared at this years Relief Bus

Banquet.

Joseph Rogoshewski was

born and raised in Eliza-

beth, NJ as the youngest

of three in a poor family.

His parents divorced when

he was three years old,and he was raised by his

grandmother. She however

offered no discipline, and

Joe started using drugs at

age 8.

At age 15 his uncle sup-

plied him with free marijua-

na. Joe then started doing

construction to support hishabit and worked for a carpenters union. What

followed was 33 years of partying. He went from

drinking to marijuana to crack cocaine, which took

over his life. Joe hit rock bottom and attempted

suicide. He dropped a plugged-in lamp into the

full bathtub he lay in, where he was prepared to

be electrocuted. Fortunately, Joes attempt was

unsuccessful. God had other plans for him to live

and not die.

Joe had volunteered at The Relief Bus on and offfor 6 years, serving food to the poor & homeless.

Even when he was in the middle of his own

problems, he liked serving others, especially the

kids that came to the bus.

The Relief Bus planted a

seed in him during the time

he volunteered, and he knew

that unlike others in his life,

The Relief Bus wasnt going to

push him away.

Joe Rogo: People Know the Bus Will Be There

oe making some delicious soup

Serving kids on the bus

Due to his

addiction, Joe

lost his job and

was going to

become home-

less. Once again,Joe made plans

to end his life,

this time by

jumping off the

Goethals Bridge

where death was certain. The hour before he

carried out his plan, he decided to call former

Relief Bus Outreach Team Leader, Steve Pas-

tor. Steve picked Joe up and put him on a bus

to Syracuse Teen Challenge, a mens rehabilita-tion and discipleship program.

Without the sense of love he received from The

Relief Bus, and the follow up on the part of the

outreach staff, he may not have been

able to make the step to go into the rehabilita-

tion program. Joe fnished the one-year

program, remains clean, and has now been

working with Teen Challenge for 17 months. He

lives next door to Teen Challenge and

volunteers by counseling other men that are inthe same desperate situation he was.

The Relief Bus was there to set Joe on a new

path toward life transformation and he will never

be the same.

Joe sharing his testimony