We believe that serving God is serving others. Matthew 25:35-40 "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Food & Clothing

For the last seven years we have held a food and clothing drive in October or November for the people in our community. It is a tangible way to help families and to show them that God cares about their physical needs and so do we. We invite the community and our members to help with food and clothing donations by saving items throughout the year and during that week we transform our sancutuary into a “department store” volunteers walk the families through the racks and help them “shop”. We partner with the surrounding schools, churches, local businesses and newspapers as well in order to notify as many families in need as possible. This past year we saw about 500 people come though the doors and enjoy a “free” shopping experience. Every year this event grows. Our hope in the near future is to do this 2-3 times a year.

Food Pantry

Currently we have a section of our church set aside as a “Food Pantry”. We receive donations from members of our church, people in the community and also from a few local supermarkets. Every week several people contact our church with genuine needs and we are able to provide them with a least two bags of food. In the future we hope to become connected to the county food bank so that we can assist more families in our community. The need is great, especially in today’s economy and it continues to increase with each month. Weekly we serve 50 families.

Thanksgiving

For the past 6 years we have been putting Thanksgiving baskets together for a number of families within our church as well as in our community. During our Food & Clothing Drive in October we spoke with many families who are struggling to meet their basic needs. We “adopted” a number of these families and provided them with a Thanksgiving Basket filled with all the trimmings using donations given by church members and people within the community. Last year we blessed 20 families. It is our hope to increase that number this year.

Christmas

Christmas is a time of giving and sharing for the past 6 years we sponsor “Christmas Blessings”. Many of our members have experienced financial hardships in their lives and we love to adopt families within the church as well as in our community who cannot afford to give their children a special Christmas. Last year we teamed up with Living Waters Christian Center who were connected with Toys for Tots. We provided toys for 16 children in a variety of ages. We also held a night for the moms and dads to come and wrap the gifts for their children. Every year we hope to increase the number of kids that we are able to assist.

Family Promise

Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans –children and adults- are homeless. Family Promise is a non profit, non denominational organization for families in transition. Family Promise brings shelter, meals and support services to families without homes. This organization works along side of churches, social services and many other organizations to help these families find permanent housing and jobs. 70% of the families that participate in this program find jobs and homes. We currently are a Host Site. Three weeks out of the year we Host up to 15 people. We work along side of Family Promise and provide within our facility housing, food and transportation to and from the Day Site. This requires many volunteers from within the church as well as in the community. For more information on this Program or if you would like to be a part of this life changing program, please click on the link below.