"Don’t Look Down On A Man Unless You’re Trying To Pick Him Up."
Rev. Dr. Mozel Sanders was appointed in1959 as Pastor of Mt. Vernon Missionary Baptist Church in Indianapolis. Interested in the needs the congregation and the surrounding community, he worked diligently to provide for his congregation and the surrounding community. Rev. Sanders received statewide recognition and numerous awards, such as a housing project and a street re-named in his honor, but he is best known throughout the state of Indiana for feeding families in need, creating the annual Mozel Sanders Thanksgiving Dinner and establishing Mt. Vernon as a beacon of hope for the urban communities of Indianapolis.

After his demise in 1988, Rev. Dr. Mozel Sanders’ son, Rev. Roosevelt Sanders, answered the call both as Pastor of Mt. Vernon and as a servant of the community, he formed the Mozel Sanders Foundation (MSF) to continue the traditions of its namesake. The Foundation continues to expand on the legacy. Now, 35 years after its birth, with the assistance of his wife, Stephanie as Co-Chair and thousand of community partners, the Thanksgiving Dinner Event has served more than 25,000 dinners to families each year for the last seven years. For more than ten years, in addition to the Thanksgiving hot meals, the MSF has also given thousands of pounds of staple groceries each month from Mt. Vernon Missionary Baptist Church.

Four years ago, the Foundation began distributing 30,000 pounds of groceries, personal hygiene and household cleaning products, each and every month. From humble beginnings at Mt. Vernon Missionary Baptist Church, the event continued to grow and outgrown various locations where the meals were prepared. Today, the event has expanded to 37 satellite locations of churches, care facilities and community service centers and for the past seven years the food has been prepared at our mother-ship, Butler University.

The late Rev. Dr. Mozel Sanders understood the necessity of providing for the daily practical needs of the people and that fact is not lost on the son, the Rev Roosevelt Sanders. The short-term goal of MSF is to increase this program of monthly giving to bi-weekly and then weekly. Ultimately, the goal is to acquire a building to provide for the needy daily and resume and expand the scholarship program and begin mentoring and youth empowerment projects.

The Foundation’s broad and diverse collection of volunteers includes individuals and organizations such as;

•Radio One, their DJ’s and three of their stations, have hosted live remote fund raising radiothon annually for the last ten years. The RadioThon is broadcast on each of their three stations for an entire week-end, completely free of charge, where citizens call the stations or go to one of the two locations, Lafayette Square and Circle Center to make donations.
•Jim Irsay and the Indianapolis Colts have been extremely generous, who hold a fundraising dinner at the Colts Complex, with the proceeds going to the MSF and then for the last two years, Jim Irsay, has matched the funds raised at the RadioThon.

This collaborative effort attracts people from the corporate suites to the grassroots streets. Which includes companies such as Federal Express, the Deer’s, the Financial Center Federal Credit Union, Harland Bakery, Sysco Foods, and the Indiana Pacers the list of compassionate entities and individuals are too numerous to recognize all. The incredible contributions from donors and volunteers, to the Foundation, for over 35 years have allowed us to supplement the needs of the less fortunate.

Rev Sanders also serves as Chairman of the Westside Community Ministries, Inc, (WCMI) an organization of 32 churches on the Westside of Indianapolis. Their mission is to strengthen families they provide mentoring for youth, employment development and placement with the assistance of corporate partners who employ ex-offenders because of their commitment to WCMI. They also assist with affordable housing and addiction recovery support through the Roosevelt Sanders Substance Abuse Relapse Prevention Center.

All of this is why we need your help to continue and expand our service to the community. So I ask you to; help us, help the community stand, so collectively we can be a greater benefit to Indianapolis.

Thank you in advance,

Andre M. Arnold
Mozel Sanders Foundation, Inc.
317-916-6151 Direct
drgomab@comcast.net