FERRIDAY, La. – Ministers and other concerned citizens are meeting at 1 p.m. Monday at Ferriday’s Concordia Bank branch to brainstorm ways to assist the needy in Concordia Parish.

The Rev. Bob Schlemmer of the First Church of God in Ferriday first came up with the idea of a parishwide forum last month, when he organized a meeting of local pastors for the same purpose.

Ferriday resident Liz Brooking found out about that meeting, which was held in mid-December, at the last meeting of her community prayer group and decided to help organize another gathering.

&uot;A couple of people have already mentioned organizing a soup kitchen for the parish,&uot;&160;Brooking said, adding that the meeting is open to the public.

&uot;Another idea was a halfway house for people coming out of the prison,&uot;&160;she added. &uot;There, we could provide job training, a place to sleep … whatever it would take for them to stay out of jail.&uot;

It is possible that the as-yet-unnamed organization could work with existing nonprofit agencies to establish programs to fill such needs.

And churches could also help with that effort, Schlemmer said.

&uot;But first, we’ve got to find out what the community thinks are the needs that need to be filled,&uot; Brooking said.

Having a nondenominational, parishwide organization in place to spearhead efforts to minister to the needy would help make sure that individual churches are not defrauded, Schlemmer said.

&uot;It would give us the means to check out the legitimacy of some of these calls for help,&uot;&160;he said.

&uot;As it is, some people go from church to church asking for help, and they leave town with thousands of dollars they didn’t really need. And that takes money from the people who really need it.&uot;

Those interested in participating can call Brooking at (318) 757-3904 for more information.