With Christmas coming,
Morgan-Scott pleads for help

By Annette Bender

ONEIDA, Tenn. – TennCare cuts and rising fuel costs are hitting Morgan-Scott Project hard this year, but Executive Director Jill Potter is determined that the dire financial situation won't interfere with Christmas.

"If I have to take no pay at all, we're going to have a Christmas program," says Potter, who has already reduced her own salary from fulltime to part-time pay.

The list of services provided by Morgan-Scott is long and includes emergency funds for utility bills and rent, food boxes for the hungry, a work program for substance abusers, and a new homeless shelter in the agency's recently opened, second facility.

In December, Morgan-Scott provides a "Christmas Store" where underprivileged parents from both Morgan and Scott Counties can choose gifts for their children.

"Last year we provided gifts for 1,600 kids - 800 in each county, - says Potter. "This year I anticipate that number to be higher."

The agency is struggling because the people they serve are struggling, she explained.

Since TennCare has withdrawn health-care coverage for thousands of Tennesseans, "people have to make decisions about whether they go to the thrift store for clothes or to the drug store for medicine."

Profits from the thrift stores at Morgan-Scott's long-time headquarters in Deer Lodge, Tenn. – and the newer facility in Oneida – provide one-fourth of the agency's $85,000 budget. The profits have dropped dramatically, from $27,000 in 2004 to less than $15,000 by late November 2005, Potter said.

Rising fuel costs are also causing more people to ask for Morgan-Scott assistance in paying for utility bills, gasoline, and prescriptions, Potter said. "There are more people coming through the doors - so many that we can't help them all." In a three-month period, about 75 people are served by Morgan-Scott services.

Besides reducing her own salary and laying off a secretary who still comes in to work as a volunteer, Potter is seeking help from Holston Conference. The Holston Conference Foundation recently approved a $10,000 grant, and several churches have provided small grants as well as labor in renovating the 30-year-old school that now houses the new Scott County location. She cites First Oak Ridge UMC, First Farragut UMC, and First Knoxville UMC as faithful contributors.

To facilitate the Christmas Store, Potter said she needs $10,000 by Dec. 16 and new toys for children ages 0-18 by Dec. 12. In Scott County, parents will be allowed to "shop" for their children's gifts at the local Wal-Mart - with a checks-and-balance system to ensure the gifts are actually being bought for needy children. In Morgan County, the Morgan-Scott Project will be more directly responsible for setting up a store, Potter said.

Church members are also invited to volunteer at the Deer Lodge or Oneida facilities or to donate to the thrift store or general budget, she said.

For more information, contact Potter at (423) 663- 4009, (423) 965-3131, or by e-mail. Morgan-Scott Project is located in the Oak Ridge District.

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