• Rescue Missions nationwide provide more than half a million meals to the homeless and needy during Thanksgiving week, requiring approximately 179 tons of turkey, 83 tons of potatoes, 117 tons of dressing and 7,800 gallons of gravy. Association of Gospel Rescue Missions AGRM.

• The Great Thanksgiving Banquet (G. T. B.)  is just a sampling of what Rescue Missions accomplish every day, 365 days a year.

• More than six in ten homeless people are spending their first Thanksgiving on the streets.

• The Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM) represents over 290 faith-based local homeless Rescue Missions all over the US.

Men, women and children depend on the Mission for meals each day on on holidays like Thanksgiving.  Thank you or helping us meet this heart-breaking need.

Dozens of volunteers reach out their hands and harts to the less-fortunate each Thanksgiving.  Volunteers are also needed throughout the year as the Mission serves 3 meals-a-day 365 days-a-year.

• Rescue Missions offer emergency shelter, meals and clothing to homeless and needy men, women and children every day of the year. More than 35 million meals, 13 million nights of lodging and 24 million articles of clothing have been provided to people in desperate need in the past year.

• Homeless families are one of the fastest growing populations on the streets.

• Rescue Mission rehabilitation costs about one-third of what it costs to keep someone in jail. On average, Rescue Missions spend about $21.57 a day to house, feed and help a person get off the street and into productive life.

Above: Guests were greeted by Mayor Lauren DeGeorge who took time out of her schedule to reach out to homeless people at the Mission 2006. 

Women with children account for 57% of all homeless families. Whole families – mother and fathers with children - account for greater than one quarter of the families on the streets, up from 17% in 2001. (2003 AGRM Snapshot Survey of the Homeless)

• Three in eight (38%) homeless people attribute their homelessness to current economic conditions and 61% say it is harder to find a job today than it was six months ago. (2003 AGRM Snapshot Survey of the Homeless)

• It costs about $59 a day to keep a person in prison.

• Hospital-based rehabilitation programs can cost between $500-1,500 per day.