Mission Work And The Chocolate 5K - Where We Have Been, Where We Will Go...
1. Over the last year, the Chocolate 5K Funds have been used to help with a number of Ministry Opportunities that have presented themselves to Bethlehem. One of the biggest areas of growth has come from the Clothing Ministry program. Below we have a short history of how the Ministry Program began. With the continued support of the 5K funding, we will be able to expand, advertise and further share the clothing abundance we collect.
The Bethlehem Clothing Ministry began with a simple premise: if our little community had a surplus of clothing that we all shared, why couldn't we go a step further and share among our neighbors in need? One of our members, Sabrina Roe, had organized clothing trades in our church for years; she would collect the bags, size them and re-distribute to other folks in church and at her workplace. The needs grew and so did the bags of clothing. Eventually, Sabrina organized the clothing into a Rummage Sale Drive as both a service and as a fundraiser to further the work of the clothing ministry-and the response was unbelievable. Over the next two years, she organized 2-3 sales per year, and she connected with local group homes, the foster family network, and several food pantry organizations to promote the exchange of clothing. This led to a fundraising concert to fund the construction of a clothing collection drop-off shed on campus at Bethlehem. Soon we were sending clothing to other area churches for coat drives and clothing families who had lost homes to fire.
The Clothing Ministry Program has now become a major project within our church. Sabrina took over our former Christian Library Building and has stored the clothing in a very amazing organized system in this building, with help from Susan Krieger and Arlene Roberts. We have teams of "folding angels" who help fold clothing for inventory; others come and sort the bags we get in the Clothing collection shed. Still others empty the shed or move the bins to our various functions. We currently partner with two (soon to be three) area food pantries. We bring bins of sized clothing to the food distribution centers and the clients can get whatever they have need of-a clothing outreach event. At our most recent pantry opportunity, a worker from a Newburgh ministry (Newburgh Outreach) was able to expand their offerings from our supply-another area reached!
2. To continue to outreach to our community, funds for the 2015 Chocolate 5k were used to support the work of the Country Kids Food Pantry in Washingtonville-they are, as taken from their site:
“Currently the pantry assists approximately 200 families a month. Most of the food in the pantry comes from the generosity of individuals like you in the community, as well as food drives sponsored by schools, churches and businesses. Food drives are always needed to keep our shelves stocked, but each and every individual donation adds up, enabling us to fulfill our mission. Each donation helps low-income working families put food on the table. It also helps children perform better in school and ensure that they are starting their days with the nutrition they need to succeed.
The Food Pantry operates through out the year and we gratefully accept all non-perishable and monetary donations at St. Mary’s Church and at Country Kids Food Pantry. Your generous donation will have a real impact in the lives of so many people, allowing families, children and the elderly to receive food and nourishment.”
Bethlehem Church supports the food pantry through VBS food collections and financial offerings, and a portion of the Chocolate 5k funding went to help the work being done in our area by this worthy organization. Funding went to support the Backpack program which helps send food home to kids in need over the weekends.
3. The work of outreach in any church has to begin with people hearing about our work, supporting it, and most importantly making connections to help we may have to offer. One of the ways the Chocolate 5k funding will be used is to finance advertising and promotion of our events, fundraiser programs and community outreach programs. We were able to advertise the Community Egg Hunt and Costume Party this year, as well as the special family centered services held at Christmas. In the future we hope to further advertise to be sure people know about our Clothing Outreach events and to connect with foster families and group homes in the area.
4. The funding raised at the Chocolate 5K has also gone to support some basic needs of the race itself-tables, griddles, coffee pots, flags-to further the future of the race as an outreach. These items have also been put to use at the Clothing Ministry events, and at the church functions, including our Vacation Bible School Program.
1. Over the last year, the Chocolate 5K Funds have been used to help with a number of Ministry Opportunities that have presented themselves to Bethlehem. One of the biggest areas of growth has come from the Clothing Ministry program. Below we have a short history of how the Ministry Program began. With the continued support of the 5K funding, we will be able to expand, advertise and further share the clothing abundance we collect.
The Bethlehem Clothing Ministry began with a simple premise: if our little community had a surplus of clothing that we all shared, why couldn't we go a step further and share among our neighbors in need? One of our members, Sabrina Roe, had organized clothing trades in our church for years; she would collect the bags, size them and re-distribute to other folks in church and at her workplace. The needs grew and so did the bags of clothing. Eventually, Sabrina organized the clothing into a Rummage Sale Drive as both a service and as a fundraiser to further the work of the clothing ministry-and the response was unbelievable. Over the next two years, she organized 2-3 sales per year, and she connected with local group homes, the foster family network, and several food pantry organizations to promote the exchange of clothing. This led to a fundraising concert to fund the construction of a clothing collection drop-off shed on campus at Bethlehem. Soon we were sending clothing to other area churches for coat drives and clothing families who had lost homes to fire.
The Clothing Ministry Program has now become a major project within our church. Sabrina took over our former Christian Library Building and has stored the clothing in a very amazing organized system in this building, with help from Susan Krieger and Arlene Roberts. We have teams of "folding angels" who help fold clothing for inventory; others come and sort the bags we get in the Clothing collection shed. Still others empty the shed or move the bins to our various functions. We currently partner with two (soon to be three) area food pantries. We bring bins of sized clothing to the food distribution centers and the clients can get whatever they have need of-a clothing outreach event. At our most recent pantry opportunity, a worker from a Newburgh ministry (Newburgh Outreach) was able to expand their offerings from our supply-another area reached!
2. To continue to outreach to our community, funds for the 2015 Chocolate 5k were used to support the work of the Country Kids Food Pantry in Washingtonville-they are, as taken from their site:
“Currently the pantry assists approximately 200 families a month. Most of the food in the pantry comes from the generosity of individuals like you in the community, as well as food drives sponsored by schools, churches and businesses. Food drives are always needed to keep our shelves stocked, but each and every individual donation adds up, enabling us to fulfill our mission. Each donation helps low-income working families put food on the table. It also helps children perform better in school and ensure that they are starting their days with the nutrition they need to succeed.
The Food Pantry operates through out the year and we gratefully accept all non-perishable and monetary donations at St. Mary’s Church and at Country Kids Food Pantry. Your generous donation will have a real impact in the lives of so many people, allowing families, children and the elderly to receive food and nourishment.”
Bethlehem Church supports the food pantry through VBS food collections and financial offerings, and a portion of the Chocolate 5k funding went to help the work being done in our area by this worthy organization. Funding went to support the Backpack program which helps send food home to kids in need over the weekends.
3. The work of outreach in any church has to begin with people hearing about our work, supporting it, and most importantly making connections to help we may have to offer. One of the ways the Chocolate 5k funding will be used is to finance advertising and promotion of our events, fundraiser programs and community outreach programs. We were able to advertise the Community Egg Hunt and Costume Party this year, as well as the special family centered services held at Christmas. In the future we hope to further advertise to be sure people know about our Clothing Outreach events and to connect with foster families and group homes in the area.
4. The funding raised at the Chocolate 5K has also gone to support some basic needs of the race itself-tables, griddles, coffee pots, flags-to further the future of the race as an outreach. These items have also been put to use at the Clothing Ministry events, and at the church functions, including our Vacation Bible School Program.
THE ORGANIZATIONS AND PROGRAMS THAT WE SUPPORT...
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