Two volunteers at Smyrna Program Services at MUST Ministries are creatively helping to feed those in need. Deb Chamblee and Stacey Brown became friends through volunteering at MUST Ministries. Their three year volunteer experience has not only forged a friendship but they have also become great couponing buddies. -�We really wanted to help people, so we started comparing and collecting coupons-�
Deb explains that the idea to expand their help to MUST Ministries through couponing -�started when I was in my grocery store and the cashier offered me coupons for free Chef Boyardee products-� she further explains -�I told her I don-™t eat those meals and didn-™t need the free Chef Boyardee products-�. The cashier noted, -�But don-™t you volunteer at MUST?-™ I walked out of there with 27 free cans of food and realized I could really help. Now people bring us coupons and we each commit to spend $5 per week. People are amazed at how much we bring in.-�
Aside from volunteering, the two couponer spend time looking intently for useful items they can get for little or no cost. They buy deodorant, cereal, peanut butter and other staples in the MUST food pantry. In December, Deb even found coupons for a free transformer toy, went to the store and then took the toys to the MUST Toy Shop.
-�Our husbands grew up in this area,-� Stacey explained, -�and we want to help our community-� The bonus is that aside from helping the community Deb and Stacey have managed to cut their own grocery bills in half and encourage others to do the same. It-™s a win-win for everyone. They learned that it doesn-™t take a lot of effort or much money to make a big impact in someone else-™s life.
For more information on how to get involved at MUST Ministries, go to www.ministries.org. The charity for those living in poverty helps 34,000 people in eight counties. Almost half of those clients are children.