Thanks for another great year!
Wow! Can you believe it is 2014 already? Praise God! He is still good! He is still in charge! Thank you for your partnership in our ministry. Let’s take a few minutes to look back and remember what He has done in the last few months.
Priceless Gift Toy Store - Thank you St. Vincent de Paul for our 8 years together. We were able to serve 4,219 children this year, with the help of 344 volunteers who served 814 shifts! Thank you to Father’s House/The Dream Center who housed our preparation again for the 2nd year. We were able to not only fill our St. Vincent Semi, but Jackson Rental gave us use of a trailer about 1/3 of the Semi size, and filled that also. Praise God for sending Spring Arbor Free Methodist during their Serve-a-lution week. They were a huge help, and lots of fun. We partnered with 2 new groups of people who needed community service hours, and were so very blessed to make new friends, and share Jesus while we worked. We were able to build 1500 gift bags of personal hygiene items to share with the families we serve. Thank you Meijer for your $5,000 in gift cards for the 4th year.
Our volunteers really enjoy working with the Toy Store. For many of us, the toy store IS largely how we celebrate Christmas. We get so very many hugs, and tearful whispers “this is the only Christmas our family will have”.
There are always a few stories that stand out…. Like the day Ben from the League came in with coats from the Northwest’s coat drive and asked if we needed them! We had one half hour of frenzy as families picked out just what they needed. One of the coats had a rip under the arm, so we repaired it. The family who waited for the repair decided it wasn’t just right for their child, so the coat left was laying over a box in the back for an hour or 2. One little mom came from work, dressed in her uniform, but with no coat. When she had finished shopping for her 5 children, we asked if we could help her carry her gifts to her car. She said yes, and we asked where her coat was. She said she had none. Did we have one for her? We were standing right next to the box where the repaired coat lay. The only coat left! She tried it on, and it fit like a glove! Praise God!
Please join us and pray for the health of some of our volunteers, Arlie, Bill, Elaine, & William who need God’s healing touch.
My personal favorite time of this project is when we have depleted every item prepared in advance. The truck is completely empty; the work area is all clean and neat – with no toys in sight. People start praying for toys to come, and God sends TOYS! This year was no exception! The last day of the toy store, we had 7 groups bring in their gifts! This project truly takes an army. Thank you for the part you played! Praise God for the way He sends us just what we need, right on time.
God Guides Books – We asked God for 2,000 of these books to share with our families. Thank you! He provided every penny needed. The books were shared both through the Toy Store and our Food Pantry partners.
Sewing Class – This year something amazing happened. We worked the toy store, and kept the weekly sewing group going at the same time! Praise God, he sent Diane Kline who loves to sew, and has a desire to start something like our sewing group right in her Brooklyn home. Diane, Tammy, Nancy, Twyla, Helen, Vicki, and others kept busy right up to Christmas! We plan to sew on Tuesdays, from 9 to 3. Come join us!
Kids’ Explosion – We finished the fall semester right as we moved into the Toy Store. The children who learned their Bible verses were invited to join us on our 2nd Annual Party Bus! 72 of us headed off to Lansing again – to party with the Lutheran teens. We had a blast! Each child had at least 1 teen who hosted them through the party time. The kids enjoyed a bounce house, blow-up obstacle course, crafts, pizza, and even a rapper named Agape to share his story and songs with us! On the way home, the group gave us a mountain of goldfish crackers, raisins, pretzels, cereal, and hygiene bags! Thank you Y.M.C.A. and Salvation Army for your help with transportation! Our next semester will run Feb – April. Come help share Jesus with our little ones!
Wednesday Bible Study – We have to stop meeting to let the Toy Store happen, so now we are starting up again with Diane Merritt leading. Join us at Noon. We are challenging everyone to read through the Bible in one year. We have copies of the plan where 15 minutes each day, some old testament, some new, some Psalm and Proverbs gives us a balanced diet!
First Fruits Groceries – We continue to provide great food at a great price with Keys Produce and Prime Cuts. We praise God for all the faithful volunteers who come to gather orders, transport & sort veggies, transport meat, remove the cardboard, and deliver to our homebound customers. Thank you Bill Latocki for making us look great month after month!
Thank you for your financial support. With your help, we were able to love our city again this year. Praise God, and thank you!
Till Jesus Comes, Wendy
