Community Life Founder Receives Humanitarian Award
By: Brandon Kellogg Photo Credit: Alexander Photos Deltona, Fl. (January 21, 2010) -Pastor Phyllis Gregory, founder of Community Life Center, received the Second Annual Gus I. Dowels Humanitarian Award from Deltona Dream Keepers on January 16, 2010 during the Martin Luther King Breakfast celebration.
The award was given to her in recognition of the 14 years of service to the citizens of Deltona. Upon receiving the award Gregory was asked to give a short history of the outreach center. She stated “It is said great things start from small beginnings and we started small with a couple of loaves of bread donated by Publix Supermarket and a few cans of food donated by a few of my friends to help a couple of families in need in our community. Two years later my home looked like a warehouse full of food, furniture, and clothing. Why? We saw a need and had to do something about it”. When speaking to Gregory she continued “I still remember the first news article about the work we were doing, it was printed in the Orlando Sentinel in September, 1999 and read “Minister’s cupboard – and her garage – runneth over with goodwill”. She laughed and smilingly declared “that was an understatement, at that time, the only rooms in our home that didn’t house supplies to help families in need, were my two daughters’ bedrooms and my husband and I’s bedroom.”
Today the Community Life Center, located in Deltona’s Social Service building, is known as one of Deltona’s premier charities, helping families in crisis regain self sufficiency through a multitude of free services and supported only through the generosity of the citizens, churches, organizations and businesses of the community, the center receives no government assistance. Gregory who in the last two years has had major health issues has turned the daily operations over to Executive Director, Charity Vickers, whom she consults with daily. She still holds a position on the charities’ Board of Directors, helps with raising funds from home and speaks to local organizations and churches about the work she loves – helping families through times of crisis back to a life of self sufficiency and success.
Gregory shared with this reporter that the agency is struggling to continue to operate because “donations are down, but the number of families the agency serves daily has tripled”. She is asking the community in which she has given the last 14 years of her life to serve, to step up and help local families who have been hit by unemployment and under-employment due to the economy by sending financial donations to the charity. Pastor Gregory’s final statement before exiting the stage of the Martin Luther King event was “We at Community Life Center believe like John D. Rockefeller…Giving is not a duty, but a privilege.”
To support this charity, bring or send your tax deductible donations to Community Life Center, 1691 Providence Blvd., Ste 102, Deltona, Florida 32725 or log onto their website at www.clcofdeltona.com and donate through Paypal. To Schedule a Speaking Engagement call 386-218-4920 and ask for Charity or contact Gregory personally at PGregory@clcofdeltona.org
URGENT NOTE: Since the tragedy in Haiti, CLC has not received one check or Paypal contribution. Community support is the only way CLC survives and going only one week without contributions puts the center in peril. Please help those who help the community. Any donation is urgently needed ,appreciated and is tax deductible.
