Last week the church lobby was filled to overflowing with coats. The boys of our Cadet Club had outdone themselves again, collecting 195 coats for needy kids and families. A few days later, Job’s dad showed up with more. Job had spread the word at school and added forty coats to the total. The Salvation Army picked it all up, expressing gratitude for such a great effort.
The GEMS were also in a serving frame of mind. The girls came to Evelyn, our church office administrator, and asked how they could help. She put them to work stuffing mailboxes and Evelyn’s work was done in record time.
Then came Halloween, when youth from various churches go door to door collecting food for local food banks and agencies. We were thrilled when 24 young people and a number of parents showed up to represent Hope Fellowship and proceeded to hit the 550 houses that had received flyers from us the previous week. Between 7:30 and 9:00 p.m. our youth and young people from at least five other congregations brought bags and boxes of food to Calvary Baptist Church where additional volunteers weighed, organized and divided the items between several food banks, the Refuge and the Gate. The Zion/Hope Food Bank’s share was so big that only two thirds fit into the pantry. The other third had to be stored in Zion’s portable.
Alice, our Youth Zone co-ordinator, was very thankful. “I am so grateful for all the youth and parents/drivers who came out to collect food for the local food banks last night,“ she wrote the following day. “Those who will receive the food will be blessed by your efforts. There were approximately 144 participants (leaders/youth).”
Our High School Ministries contribution to this total was approximately 1,200 lbs, surpassing the 900 pounds that they collected in 2014. The grand total in weight of food collected by everyone was 4,856 lbs, more than doubling the 1,932 pounds collected last year! “I am still buoyed by this experience,” Alice said, feeling overwhelmed. “Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! God is so good.”
- Pastor Peter
The GEMS were also in a serving frame of mind. The girls came to Evelyn, our church office administrator, and asked how they could help. She put them to work stuffing mailboxes and Evelyn’s work was done in record time.
Then came Halloween, when youth from various churches go door to door collecting food for local food banks and agencies. We were thrilled when 24 young people and a number of parents showed up to represent Hope Fellowship and proceeded to hit the 550 houses that had received flyers from us the previous week. Between 7:30 and 9:00 p.m. our youth and young people from at least five other congregations brought bags and boxes of food to Calvary Baptist Church where additional volunteers weighed, organized and divided the items between several food banks, the Refuge and the Gate. The Zion/Hope Food Bank’s share was so big that only two thirds fit into the pantry. The other third had to be stored in Zion’s portable.
Alice, our Youth Zone co-ordinator, was very thankful. “I am so grateful for all the youth and parents/drivers who came out to collect food for the local food banks last night,“ she wrote the following day. “Those who will receive the food will be blessed by your efforts. There were approximately 144 participants (leaders/youth).”
Our High School Ministries contribution to this total was approximately 1,200 lbs, surpassing the 900 pounds that they collected in 2014. The grand total in weight of food collected by everyone was 4,856 lbs, more than doubling the 1,932 pounds collected last year! “I am still buoyed by this experience,” Alice said, feeling overwhelmed. “Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! God is so good.”
- Pastor Peter
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