Grants Good Samaritan Center raising funds

By Mike Marino
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — The holiday season is here, and it is a time when people feel like being good Samaritans and want to help their neighbors. The Good Samaritan Center in Grants has been doing just that 365 days of the year, helping seniors in the area for almost three decades. The center is part of the Good Samaritan Society that began in Souix Falls, S.D., 85 years ago. That one small beginning has resulted in 240 nonprofit centers across the country.
The mission of the society is to provide shelter and supportive services to older persons and others, from senior and assisted living facilities to skilled nursing with rehabilitation and long-term care to home care. Jay Almquist, the new director of the Grants facility just moved to the area from Dallas.

“We moved here three weeks ago and the community has made us feel like family already,” Almquist said. “The center itself administers 24 HUD apartments for seniors, most with health issues and basic aging problems. We also provide 24 hour nursing care and provide for special dietary needs,” he said.

Almquist is rolling up his sleeves with the rest of the staff. They have been repainting and wallpapering to give the 30-year old center’s facility a face lift.

“We will be selling Grants-2007-Good Samaritan Christmas Keepsake Ornaments this year to help us raise funds for much needed improvements. The interesting thing is that all ornaments are handmade by our staff. Joyce Lovato is our activities director and quite artistic, so she has been giving classes to all of us on staff and we started creating the ornaments ourselves, so they are all unique and hand crafted,” he said.

The ornaments can be personalized by name, and once ordered can be picked up in lobby of the center within three to five days. They range in price from $10 to $50 and all money will be used for the beautification of the non-profit center. The Good Samaritan Center is located at 840 Lobo Canyon Road.

Information: (505) 287-8867 or (505) 287-5492.