Letter of thanks from Michael Gostomski

The following letter was sent by SMU trustee and alumnus Mike Gostomski of Winona.

“As a number of you Saint Mary’s University people know, I am part of the infamous Shorty’s coffee group. Since the demise of Shorty’s, we have been having coffee at Midtown Foods, located in the Winona Mall.

“Over the last couple of weeks, we have acquired some new friends. Much more polished than any of us but just as friendly. They are the members of the disaster team from the Southern Baptist Conference. This morning one of the leaders stopped at the table and asked if any of us were associated with Saint Mary’s. He went on to compliment the university and its response to the floods that Winona, Houston and Fillmore Counties have experienced recently.
Read more...He led one of the recovery teams in Rushford that consisted of 40 students from Saint Mary’s. There was also at least one other team, and I also spoke with that team leader. He said they work all of the time with young people on their mercy missions, and the students from Saint Mary’s were some of the best that they have ever had on their teams. The students were hard-working and very polite and willing to take direction. In all, there were around 100 students working (with this group).

“The group of volunteers is from Texas and has answered the call of the Baptist Church of Minnesota. It has been wonderful to meet these people who give so much time up for others. It also makes me proud to be associated with SMU. They have a temporary mess hall set up across the highway from Sugar Loaf Ford and so far have served in excess of 40,000 meals to people working on the cleanup and also those displaced by the disaster.”