Baskets filled with cheer
BY MARY PERHAM THE LEADER

PHOTO BY ERIC WENSEL/THE LEADER Applicants for Christmas food baskets wait outside the Catholic Charities office in Bath.

BATH -- The line stretched for blocks down Liberty Street.

Elderly people, workers, young parents with children, teens out on their own. They lined up at the entrance of Catholic Charities' Turning Point this week and waited.

For hours.

As usual, it was first come, first served for the applications for Catholic Charities' Turning Point Christmas food baskets, according to its director Sue Bozman.

Last year, the agency prepared 130 baskets, and expects to fill about the same number this year, she said.

But it's likely the demand will exceed the supply.

"There was a waiting list last year, and there'll be a waitin g list this year, too," Bozman said. "We never have enough."

Turning Point customers generally include the recently unemployed, people with disabilities and families working two or three part-time jobs to make ends meet, she said.

Catholic Charities Steuben bases its efforts on the Gospel message of unflinching and tireless service to the poor.

Established locally as Elmira Catholic Family Services during the Great Depression, it became the Southern Tier Office of Social Ministry in 1980. It was renamed Catholic Charities of the Southern Tier in 1994.

In 2003, various counties in the Southern Tier, including Steuben, set up separate offices under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester in order to better meet local needs.

According to the agency's mission statement, "We are called to respond to our neighbors in need. We answer this call by providing charitable services, focusing on the poor and the vulnerable of all faiths, and honoring the dignity of every human person from conception to natural death."

The agency relies heavily on grants and contracts, which last year provided about 50 percent of all revenues. The United Way, fundraising, and childcare and program fees provide most of the revenues.

Ironically, the Rochester diocese provides little revenue for the agency.

Catholic Charities Steuben's 2006 annual report showed the diocesan Thanksgiving Appeal allotted $19,055 toward Steuben's $1.5 million program.

The Christmas Food Basket project relies on donations from local service groups, churches and individuals, Bozman said.