Davis has plans for Kilgore Crisis Center
By KATHRYN MARTINEZ news1@kilgorenewsherald.com

EUGENE DAVIS

Kilgore Crisis Center welcomes a man with a plan.

Eugene Davis, new director at the community crisis center, comes to the facility with 10 years experience in fundraising and development with Tyler Salvation Army Texas Division. He has also worked with Sister Cities Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse (SCCADA), and is a Baptist minister.

While at the Salvation Army in Tyler, Davis worked as director of grants and planning. "I would write grants for specific needs - mainly government - and strategic planning for Salvation Army," Davis said.

Davis said the best part of working in fundraising was getting to work with individual donors.

"Each person has a passion for something, and in philanthropy it is key to find the passion the have for your mission, to make the donation fulfilling on both ends," Davis said.

Davis said "in fundraising the 'd' is silent."

"When fundraising is done correctly the donor is having fun and the recipient is having fun, because they are fulfilled," Davis said. "You will never see a donor sad or upset about their gift, because fulfillment feels good."

Davis said his work is a calling and his mission is to help people understand and respect each other.

"Force, violence and coercion are unacceptable," Davis said. "It is a crime - in this day and time with all the education and information out there - that this service is needed. That says something about society and what we need to be doing. Davis said the tragedy of the situations one see in his line of work is that abuse is a failure on the part of the community.

"The community needs to reach out and protect those who are vulnerable and need help," Davis said. "This center is a jewel and I hope this community knows what it has."

Davis said he looks forward to meeting people in the Kilgore community and to making the center even more effective.

"First I want to reach out to current donors and express our thanks and strengthen those relationships," Davis said. "I want to get the word out that we are here to help."

Kilgore Crisis Center is accepting monetary donations as well as donations to the center's food pantry and thrift store.

The Crisis Center, which serves Kilgore, Carthage and Marshall, is a non-profit agency which offers safety, shelter and counseling to abused families.