CAN & CAN DO
By Jerry Gaulding Editor, Free Press

Kathy Rodgers, left, taking over as director of Christian Outreach, and An Sweeny, who is staying on as assistant director, are surrounded by some of the foodstuffs they distribute each week.

An Sweeny is stepping down as director of Diboll's Christian Outreach.

On her final day in charge of giving out food rations to the town's needy, while taken by surprise by her co-workers, Sweeny nonetheless was gracious.

"I'm not going away," she stressed. The original director of Christian Outreach said that circumstances in her life have changed and she needs to change how she allocates her time. And anyway, "it's always good to have new ideas."

The new director is Kathy Rodgers, a volunteer for 15 years. Rodgers will be a "very capable" director, said Sweeny, who will take on the title of assistant director. She will continue to volunteer, she said, she just won't be the one in charge.

One major task she is retaining is supervising the move of Christian Outreach's headquarters from its current site in the old library building to the Temple House, donated to the group by the Temple family. The house, much bigger than their current space, "will open doors to lots of possibilities," she said. "We will be looking at other forms of outreach." She expects the move to take place during the summer but was shy about specifics - too many variables are involved.

Christian Outreach was conceived by the late Arthur Temple Jr. 20 years ago and he recruited Sweeny, whose husband Jack now is the senior executive with Temple-Inland in Diboll, to run it. The group started life, like many other local groups, in the Scout House in Old Orchard Park while the old library was refurbished, she said. The group has been in the building 19 years.

Food distribution is a major role for Christian Outreach, with groceries purchased from Brookshire Bros. with donations the group receives. Several churches also hold food drives throughout the year, Sweeny said. There seems to be enough to go around.

"The whole community has made this ministry what it is," Sweeny said. … "Diboll takes care of its own."

Around 125 to 150 families, numbers that hold pretty steady, receive assistance each week, she said, many of whom are elderly and on a fixed income, people "who do fine until they get sick." Then, they need some help. Christian Outreach works closely with the Diboll Housing Authority and its director, Margie Harrell. Together and with other groups, the two organizations put on an annual Christmas dinner for the community's senior citizens. This past year, more than 400 attended.

Limited stocks of clothing and furniture also are available to new residents who might be short a few essentials, she said. All of Christian Outreach's budget goes toward helping people, she said. No one draws a salary.

And all that unpaid help is what makes the organization a success, she said. You can have facilities and equipment and lots of bells and whistles, "but if you don't have the people," nothing's going to get done. "These are the best volunteers in the world."