MUST 161228Almost 30,000 people struggling in poverty turned to MUST Ministries for help and hope in 2016. About 80 percent of those served were women and children, according to MUST President and CEO Ike Reighard.

“Most people have some misperceptions about those living in poverty,” Reighard said. -�More than two-thirds of those served by MUST are younger than age 18.-�

As MUST faces 2017, it needs significant community financial support to sustain the food, housing and jobs programs that pull people out of instability. MUST-™s ratio of administrative costs to program costs is among the best in the country, and Charity Navigator ranks it at its highest 4-star rating in financial performance. MUST also was ranked a top-100 nonprofit in Georgia by Atlanta Business Chronicle.

-�When you give to MUST Ministries, you are helping thousands of children-"like I was-"have a future,-� said Schneyder Destine, CEO of Bexiam and a former MUST client. -�You are giving us a hand up, not a hand out. You are making a way for us when we see no other way.-�

Supported by almost 10,000 volunteers, MUST offers food, housing, employment services and clothing to individuals and families living in poverty and homelessness. The organization-™s services include three food pantries that distribute more than 213,000 pounds of groceries each year, an employment services program that put 468 people back to work last year, and clothing closets that distributed more than 338,000 articles of clothing.

MUST also provides Cobb County-™s only walk-up emergency shelter, which is currently forced to turn away an average of 225 women and children seeking shelter each month due to lack of space.

To learn more or to donate now, go to www.mustministries.org.