Looking
Back on 2013
WOW,
last year provided so many blessings, so many experiences of God’s wonderful
people! In the last six months of the
year the number of new tenants served by NB nearly exceeded the number served
in the entire first year of operation. The
Veteran’s programs at St. Pat’s Center and the Hope Recovery Center (of the
U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs) are responsible for the huge increase.
Somehow,
through the grace of God, our church family, friends and acquaintances were able
to provide the needed furniture and household items.
There
are so many people we would like to thank publicly but that would be virtually
impossible in such limited space. We
feel compelled, however, to recognize two couples who have been core supporters
of the NB effort from the beginning. Almost
from day one, Sonny and Mike Burnside have generously allowed us to use one of
their apartments for a storage/holding facility.
Our “new” furniture van
“She
runs as good as she looks!”
The paint job was courtesy of the former
owners, Girls Inc. It attracts a lot of attention and
comments. We love the look on folk’s
faces when we mention that “she runs as good as she looks”. They’re never quite sure what that means. But it does run well and the more we use it
the more we like it. We’ve been able to
make multiple deliveries and/or pickups in one trip. The enclosed cargo area makes rainy day
deliveries possible. With the 14’ ramp we’ve
loaded some heavy pieces we couldn’t have handled with just two men; it’s a
great back saver! Everything works, even
the cargo light which is nice on those rare occasions when we’ve run a little
late. Because it’s enclosed we don’t
have to unload it every night and we can store some needed items, like linens
and such in the overhead compartment.
We still have a ways to go on our fundraising
to cover the purchase price. If you can
help with a cash donation it would be greatly appreciated! Make checks payable to LPUMC with “NB Truck Fund”
noted on the memo line. Thanks & God
Bless You.
Ryan Gasser, from The Word at Shaw and NB volunteer
Gary Buettner pose after loading furniture donated by the generous folks at TWS.
Looking ahead to
2014
Watch for News of
Happy
Haulers – We are forming
work crews for Saturday morning pickup and /or deliveries. We have commitments
from two 2 person teams who are ready to experience the fun and blessings of
working with our new tenants. If you can
spare about 3 hours once a month on a Saturday give Chuck a call @ 618/781-4538 (PS – fear not - we don’t do appliances)
NB
Ministry Team – we are in the
process of forming a talented team to guide NB through its future levels of
growth
Our
First Fundraiser – still
in the planning stage for February, our first real fundraiser promises to be a
lot of fun. Watch the eNewsletter and church
announcements for more information.
A tisket a tasket . . .
. . .check out our “starter basket`
Our new basket offers twelve essential
items for new tenants. Items included
are: toilet paper, bath soap, paper
towels, multipurpose cleaner, floor /tile cleaner, dish sponge, dish soap,
trash bags, bucket, mop, broom, and the basket; all this for only
twelve dollars. Purchased at Dollar Tree, each item costs only a
dollar.