St. Teresa Ministries was in a giving spirit that could not wait until Christmas, announcing the donation Saturday of $78,700 of funds to five area organizations serving people in need.

A corner of St. Teresa Thrift Store could have doubled as an overflow space for the gratitude shown by members of each organization as they accepted the financial gifts from the ministry.

“It is St. Teresa’s mission to do our part to support organizations such as these who work to provide food, basic necessities and emergency services to those in need in southcentral Kentucky,” said Kelly Wiseman, executive director for St. Teresa Ministries. “We are blessed to have relationships with these organizations and other organizations in our community, and as we see how things are going in our economy it’s important to be able to support those who need it.”

The following organizations received funding from St. Teresa Ministries:

•St. Gianna Crisis Pregnancy Home, $40,000

•Family Enrichment Center’s Wee Care Childcare Center, $20,000

•Good Samaritan Ministries, $11,500

•Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center, $5,000

•Holy Spirit Catholic Church International Outreach, $2,200

St. Gianna director Katharyn Byrne said the funds from St. Teresa Ministries would go toward building a dining room and classroom for the home that will serve pregnant women who are unhoused, providing a place to care for their babies and assist them in education and providing life skills.

“It’s the last outstanding thing before we can open our house,” Byrne said.

Good Samaritan Ministries, a nonprofit that launched last year, performs an array of free services for people in need that include home repairs, domestic work and rides to doctors.

Good Samaritan board chairman Mike Byrne said that the $11,500 donation will empower the organization to offer more material help beyond the labor its members currently provide.

Byrne described the generosity displayed by St. Teresa Ministries as completing a “circle of love.”

“They are serving a need in the community with the store, and the profits are turned over to reinforce that, so now we can go into homes with this money and help people in need,” Byrne said.

The funding for the Family Enrichment Center will support the efforts of its Wee Care Childcare Center, which provides free or low-cost childcare for families in need.

Ben Warrell, director of the camp at Gasper River, said the funds it has received will enable it to double its scholarship fund.

“We don’t want money to be an issue when it comes to young people having an encounter with God,” Warrell said.

The funding for Holy Spirit International Outreach will aid in providing interpreter services to the international community it serves, with international outreach committee member Mary Ellen Krohn saying that members have had a part in helping newly-resettled refugees adjust to life in the U.S., providing assistance with citizenship applications and hosting presentations that teach life skills and health and safety.

Since the beginning of 2022, St. Teresa Ministries has given more than $340,000 to area organizations that support the organization’s mission.

“We continuously say it’s not possible without the community support from the donors and the people who shop at the store,” Wiseman said. “We are blessed to be an organization that can say we keep the money here.”