As on every other weekday just before noon, a few dozen people on Friday lined the porch waiting for a hot meal at MUST Ministries' Loaves and Fishes Community Kitchen.

"Open the door and let us in!" patron James Stokely sang in baritone.

Stokely, a recovering addict, said all of his income goes to rent for his Marietta apartment. He was one of the 200 needy or homeless people MUST provided with a hot meal on Friday.

Stokely's song rings true, said MUST Executive Director John Moeller. Demand for the organization's services crescendoed to unprecedented levels in November, he said.

"No matter how much we're able to do, we always feel overwhelmed by the need," Moeller said. "In November, we were afraid that the need might sink the ship."

But the organization, which provides the only walk-in shelter in Cobb and in 2006 clocked more than 200,000 volunteer hours, relied on the "tentacles" it had put out in the community, Moeller said. MUST staff e-mailed, called and wrote its supporters, and they responded.

MUST raised $496,000 last month, a 9 percent increase from the $457,000 raised in December 2006, Moeller said. That was one of the group's best fundraising months in its 37-year history, he said.

Although December is always a good month for donations, the director said, MUST's reputation likely also helped fund-raising.

In 2007, Moeller said MUST received the highest rating from Charity Navigator, the country's largest independent charity evaluator. According to Charity Navigator, a four-star rating means MUST exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its cause.

Regular MUST volunteers consider the organization a staple of the community.

"To me, it's faith in action," said Peggy Adler, whose church, First United Methodist of Marietta, sends volunteers to the organization every Friday.

In 2007, the organization also placed an emphasis on special fundraising events such as a gala in May, a golf tournament in August, and a jog in November, all of which attract different types of people, he said.

Now, the organization is using a half-million dollar grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to launch a veterans program.

Moeller said veterans make up 25 percent of the homeless population.

"This is a real timely program as our folks are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan," Moeller said, adding that some veterans may be medically or emotionally fragile, and in some cases, broken. "They've paid a tremendous price for freedom, and we're trying simply to just support them in their return."

Moeller said that MUST is developing a master plan to take it into the next 20 years. The plan, he said, calls for lots of property acquisitions. As a result, the organization hopes to occupy at least one new property by the end of the year, but the Marietta location would remain in its entirety, Moeller stressed.

MUST serves Cobb, Cherokee and part of Douglas, Moeller said, and has offices in Marietta, Canton and Smyrna.

kbrooks@mdjonline.com

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