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Every time you turn on the TV you seem to hear about the stock market plummeting.

You hear that people across the globe, struck by an economy gone sour, are cutting back.

But you won't hear that in Greensboro this week. Folks here loosened their financial belts Thursday night, raising nearly $114,000 for Urban Ministry's annual Feast of Caring. Officials had crossed their fingers for $80,000, just a shade more than last year's record-setting $79,200.

"That was incredible," the Rev. Mike Aiken, Urban Ministry's executive director, said Friday afternoon. "I just could not believe it."

The Feast of Caring kicks off Urban Ministry's annual fund-raising efforts. Money raised pays for such programs as the Weaver House homeless shelter and Potter's House soup kitchen. The shelter costs more than $500,000 to run annually and the soup kitchen about $300,000.

Added to that, the nonprofit Urban Ministry gives out more than $600,000 every year in emergency assistance to help people pay rent and utilities.

The money raised Thursday is a great start to covering those costs, Aiken said. Donations ranged from $20 to an anonymous gift of $25,000, he said.

About $8,000 of the total was raised through selling the annual "Honor Card" by local artist William Mangum. That's more than double what was sold at last year's feast, Aiken said.

The card that year went on to raise more than $190,000 for Urban Ministry, he said. The cards cost $5 and can be found at Mangum's gallery, Urban Ministry, Wachovia branches, Leon's Style Salons, and various churches.

The unexpected response to Thursday's Feast of Caring comes less than a month after Urban Ministry put out a plea for another program. The Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro's Thanksgiving Fund pays for a holiday dinner for the homeless, homebound and elderly poor. It costs about $12,000 to feed 4,000 people each year.

The community came through then, too, coming up with the money within about a week after Urban Ministry said the fund was short.

"I feel a lot more confident, in this shaky economy," with such generosity, Aiken said. "We aren't home free. But it certainly is a good feeling."

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com