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2011 started out as usual, working with local retailers and donors and lining up projects for the next year. The non-profit, Here to Serve in Carthage, fills up with donations throughout the year for local and international projects. We were thrilled to be working with some of our favorite organizations and schools for the 2011 calendar year. The year was progressing nicely with donations filling the office for Carthage back-to-school backpacks, Operation Christmas Child, soldier packages for deployed troops and several other local ministries projects. We were thrilled when we had more donations by late spring than ever before.
Then May 22nd came and everything changed for this small town non-profit organization. Through my connection with OCC as a local volunteer, I was called on by Samaritan’s Purse to see how bad things were in Joplin. My husband Stephen and I were able to meet with the disaster relief team early the next day to introduce them to our local partners in Joplin to see how SP could help. We were so blessed to see how God used SP to help the people of Joplin.
After a summer of volunteer work in Joplin I realized that local kids would be going back to school in Carthage and that they would need our backpacks to make sure that they started the school year off right. We got to work on providing around 90 backpacks and supplies to students in Carthage and Jasper school districts. That may not seem like much but, something I learned this year was that we all just need to help as many as we can, and when we do, we will be surprised by how everyone pitching in can make a world of difference.
Our next big project was our international work with Operation Christmas Child and we knew that our goal of 7,000 for our area may or may not happen, but we were excited to put our hand to the plow and see what was in store for us. Earlier in the year I had brought Fairview Christian Church on as a new drop-off location for partners to drop off their shoeboxes during national collection week in November for added convenience. We had our annual Carthage community packing party and I was blessed to have so many come out and participate in helping pack 1,342 shoe boxes! The goal for Carthage was set at 1,500 shoeboxes and those in town surprised us with 1,817 shoeboxes by the end of national collection week! Our area ended up with a record-breaking shoebox total of 12,520! That shows me that those in our area love to help out not only locally but internationally.
2011 started out as usual, working with local retailers and donors and lining up projects for the next year. The non-profit, Here to Serve in Carthage, fills up with donations throughout the year for local and international projects. We were thrilled to be working with some of our favorite organizations and schools for the 2011 calendar year. The year was progressing nicely with donations filling the office for Carthage back-to-school backpacks, Operation Christmas Child, soldier packages for deployed troops and several other local ministries projects. We were thrilled when we had more donations by late spring than ever before.
Then May 22nd came and everything changed for this small town non-profit organization. Through my connection with OCC as a local volunteer, I was called on by Samaritan’s Purse to see how bad things were in Joplin. My husband Stephen and I were able to meet with the disaster relief team early the next day to introduce them to our local partners in Joplin to see how SP could help. We were so blessed to see how God used SP to help the people of Joplin.
After a summer of volunteer work in Joplin I realized that local kids would be going back to school in Carthage and that they would need our backpacks to make sure that they started the school year off right. We got to work on providing around 90 backpacks and supplies to students in Carthage and Jasper school districts. That may not seem like much but, something I learned this year was that we all just need to help as many as we can, and when we do, we will be surprised by how everyone pitching in can make a world of difference.
Our next big project was our international work with Operation Christmas Child and we knew that our goal of 7,000 for our area may or may not happen, but we were excited to put our hand to the plow and see what was in store for us. Earlier in the year I had brought Fairview Christian Church on as a new drop-off location for partners to drop off their shoeboxes during national collection week in November for added convenience. We had our annual Carthage community packing party and I was blessed to have so many come out and participate in helping pack 1,342 shoe boxes! The goal for Carthage was set at 1,500 shoeboxes and those in town surprised us with 1,817 shoeboxes by the end of national collection week! Our area ended up with a record-breaking shoebox total of 12,520! That shows me that those in our area love to help out not only locally but internationally.
2011 also found our oldest son Joshua coming home from war once again. I watched the war in Iraq come to an end like everyone else did, on my TV. But, I had a deep relief in having my son home safe and sound and yet grieving for the other moms who watched the same footage, having injured or deceased sons and daughters. I felt truly grateful and humbled beyond words.
2012 will give us many more opportunities to make a difference in our community and the communities around us. We may never see such devastation in our area again, but it is comforting to know that if we do, we will once again witness our residents reaching out and helping their neighbors. Here to Serve plans on packing more student backpacks, OCC shoeboxes, and care packages for deployed soldiers than ever before. I plan on making a difference in sharing and showing God’s love to others in 2012!
