2010 Thanksgiving Outreach

First of all, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for volunteering with us for this year's Thanksgiving Outreach. Without awesome volunteers like you, this wouldn't be possible!

If you signed up to donate food or supplies and haven't dropped them off yet, you can either bring them Wednesday, or call Cookie (812.604.4349 or 812.422.4625). She should be at the restaurant today, but I don't want to make promises for her. Or, you can drop them off at my work.

The restaurant is located at 1010 S. Kentucky Avenue. It is located about halfway between Roca Bar and the Evansville Christian Life Center, just south of Washington Avenue. The sign on the top of the building says Evans Cafe, and the windows say Mrs. Cookie's Cookin'. The parking lot is across from the restaurant. Feel free to call me or Cookie if you get lost

If you are volunteering Wednesday to help prep food, we are meeting at the restaurant anytime after 2:00 p.m. I won't be there until after work, but please feel free to come anytime.

If you are volunteering Thursday, we will be prepping and setting up from 6:30-10:30 (I know, that's really evil). We will have a time of prayer and worship (if time allows) at 10:30, and will serve from 11:00-2:00. If we run out of food, we will close up early. We will also need several people to help cleanup, and we will be taking any leftover prepared food to the Rescue Mission. Please feel free to come whenever works best for your schedule. Please be thinking about where you would like to serve (kitchen, serving line, hospitality (making guests feel welcome and making sure they don't need anything), distributing clothes if we see a need, praying for people, cleanup). Please wear comfortable clothing and shoes. We will have a volunteer form for you to sign when you arrive and a name tag to wear so we know who our volunteers are.

Please join us in prayer for the next two days that we have the right amount of food, the right amount of volunteers to serve, and the right amount of guests. I believe that God will send whomever is supposed to be there, according to His plan. Also pray that He will change lives. I have seen first-hand how He uses these Outreaches to change people, both volunteers and guests.

Once again, thank you SO MUCH for being a part of this. There are lots of people who will have full bellies on Thanksgiving Day because of you!

2010 Thanksgiving Outreach - Updated List

I think the only food donation we need is turkeys. If you would like to purchase one and cook it, that would be awesome. If you'd like to purchase one and give it to us to cook, that would be great too! If you would like to donate something else, you can purchase some food to pass out to the homeless residents that they can take with them. Canned meats (tuna, vienna sausages, etc.) and snacks (peanut butter crackers, etc.) are very portable. Also, if you'd like to go through your closets and pull out some warm weather clothing or shoes, we will be distributing that if we have people in need.

As far as volunteers, we are going to start prepping on Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. (I wont be there until after work though). We could use some more people for that. We will also prep on Thanksgiving Day from 6:30-10:30. We will serve from 11-2, and cleanup from 2-4.

Thanks SO MUCH for your support. This Outreach has been blessed by an enormous amount of people!

2010 Thanksgiving Outreach - Updated List

Volunteers needed:

Saturday November 13 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Pass out flyers to the neighborhood surrounding the restaurant

Sunday November 14 1:00 p.m. - Pass out flyers to the neighborhood surrounding the restaurant

Wednesday November 24 6:30 p.m. - Prep food and setup the restaurant

Thursday November 25 6:30 - 10:30 a.m. - Prep food and setup the restaurant

Thursday November 25 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Serve food

Thursday November 25 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. - Cleanup

Items needed:

35 cooked turkeys, carved and placed in freezer bags

90 lbs. bone-in ham (uncooked)

250 dinner rolls

500 servings of desserts

500 clamshell 3-section carryout containers

250 dessert plates

500 canned sodas or bottled water

5 lbs unsalted butter

5 dozen eggs

6 bags of celery

12 large cans of chicken broth

2010 Thanksgiving Outreach - Updated List

Volunteer Needs
Saturday November 12 9:30 a.m. and Sunday November 13 1:00 p.m.
We need a large group of people to help us distribute flyers to the neighborhood
Wednesday November 23 6:30 p.m.
Start prepping food and setting up the restaurant
Thursday November 24 6:30 – 10:30 a.m.
Finish prepping the food
Thursday November 25 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Serve the food
Thursday November 25 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Cleanup

Donation Needs
-400 lbs of turkey. That averages out to 35 12 lb turkeys. We need them cooked & placed into freezer bags with the juices. These can be done ahead of time. If you would like to cook it on Wednesday, just carve and bring to us refrigerated. If you aren't able to cook it, I have some people who are willing to cook turkeys.
-90 lbs of bone-in ham. This does NOT need to be cooked.
-40 lbs of sweet potatoes
-10 large cans of corn
-10 large cans of green beans
-500 servings of desserts. We ask that they are individually wrapped if possible.
-500 clamshell 3 section carryout container (available at gfs or sams)
-100 dessert plates
-500 canned sodas & bottled water
-25 lbs of NunnBetter self-rising white corn meal
-10 lbs of unsalted butter
-5 dozen eggs
-6 bags of celery
-20 cartons of chicken broth

2010 Thanksgiving Outreach - The "List"

Okay, here is the long anticipated "List". We are planning food for 500 people, and here is what we need to make it happen. You can drop off non-perishable food and monetary donations at Schmitt Photo, or directly to Viq or I. We need the turkeys and desserts the day before Thanksgiving - everything else we can start taking now. Please let me know if you have any questions.
-400 lbs of turkey. That averages out to 35 12 lb turkeys. We need them cooked & placed into freezer bags with the juices. These can be done ahead of time. If you would like to cook it on Wednesday, just carve and bring to us refrigerated.
-100 90 lbs of bone-in ham. This does NOT need to be cooked.
-1500 oz of instant mashed potatoes
-40 lbs of idaho potatoes
-40 lbs of sweet potatoes
-2000 oz of canned corn WE STILL NEED 18 LARGE CANS
-2000 oz of canned green beans WE STILL NEED 18 LARGE CANS
-500 small margarine cups (available at sams or gfs) SOMEONE HAS DONATED THESE
-500 silverware packets (available at sams or gfs) SOMEONE HAS DONATED THESE
-500 servings of desserts. We ask that the are individually wrapped if possible.
-500 clamshell 3 section carryout container (available at gfs or sams)
-100 dessert plates
-1 roll of 55-gal trashbags SOMEONE HAS DONATED THESE
-10 rolls of papertowels
-3 boxes of latex gloves (size M, L, & XL) SOMEONE HAS DONATED THESE
-500 canned sodas & bottled water

Please let me know if you have any questions, or would like to make a donation. And, thank you in advance for helping us provide a home-cooked meal to those who won't get one any other way!

2010 Thanksgiving Outreach - Informational Meeting - Sunday 9/26 1:00 pm

This will be an informational meeting to help us put together our teams. If you are not able to attend, but would like to help with the Outreach, here is where we need help. Please let me know where you are interested in serving.
-designing flyers and promotional materials
-securing donations (food and monetary)
-getting the word out to the community (media, shelters, organizations)
-people to canvas the neighborhood and shelters with flyers and promotional materials. We usually do this the weekend before, which would be Nov 20 and 21.
-people to help prep food on Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday morning.
-people to actually help on Thursday. We will need servers, people to work in the kitchen, cleanup, and some people to take leftover food to the Rescue Mission. I also want a few people to walk around and converse with people.

Dinner at Ms. Cookie's is $9.50 a plate. She takes cash only. Please let me know by 9/24 if you are able to attend so that she may prep her kitchen.

2010 Thanksgiving Outreach - Planning Meeting

We will be meeting on Thursday, August 12 6:00 p.m. at Ms Cookie's Cookin' 1010 S Kentucky Avenue (the old Evans Cafe) If you are able to make it to the meeting, Ms. Cookie takes cash only, and dinners are $8 a plate.

The purpose of this meeting is to start putting together teams for the 2010 Thanksgiving Outreach. If you aren't able to attend, but would like to be part of the Outreach, please let me know in what area you are interested in serving.

We need help with the following:
securing donations (food and monetary)
organizing volunteers
getting the word out to the community
designing flyers and promotional materials

The week of the Outreach, we will need help prepping food, and we will need help all day on 11/25 prepping, serving, and cleaning up.

2010 Thanksgiving Outreach - An Exciting Announcement

I'm not going to bore everyone with the details, but I have an exciting announcement.

While patronizing a local restaurant last night for the first time, we started talking about our outreaches. I've been praying for a few weeks "Lord, do you want our outreaches to cross the money savin' bridge?" (yes, I've seriously said "money savin' bridge" to the Creator of the universe). Well, I think He answered that question last night. Mrs. Cookie owns the old Evans Cafe on Kentucky and Washington (right across from our beloved Ray Ray's). She asked us what we were doing this year for Thanksgiving. I explained that our biggest challenge is finding somewhere that has shelter, power, and water. She got a look in her eyes, and-she is letting us use her restaurant for our Thanksgiving Outreach this year! We don't have to worry about shelter from the weather, using sternos to keep food warm, not having water or a restroom. We can invite these people in, give them a table to sit at and serve them...literally serve them. I have been praying for a building since last November. God has provided, and exceeded my expectations! I just wanted a building...I never expected a restaurant! We will have a full kitchen at our disposal.

I just can't tell you how excited I am about this. I literally can't sleep. All last night I kept thinking I was dreaming. There is something so surreal about this. Last year, we planned the Outreach in 3 weeks. Now, we've got way more time, and a place to have it! I was praying about this last night, and I am planning on cooking for 500 people. I know that seems crazy, but...we did 342 in June and didn't even realize it. Having a kitchen at our disposal makes it even more possible.

So, please pray about this and see if the Lord is calling you to volunteer or donate. I don't want Mrs. Cookie to have to go to any expense at all. I don't know the specifics yet, of course, but we're gonna need a LOT of food, and a LOT of help!

This is just so awesome. I wish I could explain how I'm feeling right now! Thanks to all of you for supporting us!

July 2010 Nashville Flood Relief Trip

We will be taking another team to Nashville on July 31st for Flood Relief, partnering with Hands On Nashville. Please let me know if you're interested. The need is still great, as most people have forgotten about the flood.

You can get more information at http://betheltemple.org/content.asp?article=635

July 2010 Henderson Ball Field Outreach

Check out this awesome opportunity to serve. We've got 40+ slots we need to fill. Please let me know if you're interested. It is a great chance to show the Love of Christ!

http://www.onelifenetwork.in/henderson/2010/07/heres-an-awesome-chance-to-serve-others/

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - $300

Many of you have heard me refer to the "insurance policy" issue, but probably have no idea what that's all about. The original idea for the Garvin Park Outreach was "Bands & BBQ" - exactly what it sounds like. We were going to have bands on the stage, and serve BBQ. It was a disaster from the very beginning. We couldn't find bands. We had issues getting the BBQ smokers. We didn't have many volunteers. And then, the insurance policy. In order to use the stage, we had to fill out an application. If we were to have more than 300 people, we had to have an insurance policy - $5 million aggregate. I was told by a friend of our that it would be around $300. So, I worked my tail off to raise $300. There was an insurance agent (a friend of a friend) who was supposed to get the policy for us - we never heard from him. So, we started searching ourselves After about a week, I finally found one - in Australia, for $3000. That was obviously not going to happen. We tried talking to the Parks Department to see if they would lower the requirement, and they wouldn't. We noticed on the application that it said 300 people at any one time, not the entire day. I tried to argue this point, and they wouldn't budge. We eventually decided to kill the Bands & BBQ idea and just feed people. We really didn't want to, but it just seemed like our only option at that point. (and it worked out beautifully!)

So, we still had this magic number of $300, plus $51 left from Thanksgiving. One of our friends got the idea to pass out Need-It-Keep-It envelopes. He wanted to donate as much money as we had already raised ($300) to this cause. So, he made 300 envelopes with $1 each in them. A dear family friend also sent us 2 $10 Sonic Gift Cards to help the needy. Since there aren't any Sonic restaurants close to the area, I just stuck them in 2 of the envelopes, hoping it would bless someone, or they could bless someone with it. If you aren't familiar with this concept, please check out needitkeepit.org I LOVE the idea!

On Wednesday we made arrangements to meet Brandon Barnard for the first time. We sat down and counted how much we had left. $356. So, we kept $56 to use for the food pantries and gave the rest to Brandon. As we were standing there with him, I realized that we gave him $300. The same amount of the insurance policy. The same amount that went in the envelopes. The same amount that I was SO upset about. I just didn't know how we'd come up with that much money, and then when we changed the whole concept, I was SO upset about the fact that I had raised it for an un-needed insurance policy. God seriously slapped me across the face at that very moment...I really believe that he had this $300 planned all along for THIS purpose, not for the insurance policy. At that very moment, standing outside a firestation with a man who had just buried his 74 day old daughter, I realized that all the "disaster" we had went through was worth it. I always say when we're going through tough times that He has a plan for it, we just don't see it yet. It takes a while, but we always see how He worked in the situation.

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Thanks?

thank
–verb 1. to express gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment to gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment to

grat·i·tude
–noun the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful


thank·ful
-Aware and appreciative of a benefit; grateful a benefit; grateful.

hum·ble
–adjective
1. not proud or arrogant; modest
2. a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.
3. low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.; lowly
4. respectful
5. low in height, level, etc.; small in size

None of these words really work for me. I don't think there is a word to describe what I want to say to everyone who was a part of the Garvin Park Outreach. So, I'm going to leave it at "thanks", which doesn't even begin to do it justice.

For those of you that weren't with us last weekend, I'd like to give a recap of what happened.

Friday night, we were supposed to have 9 people to help dish out 400 servings of potato salad and cole slaw, count all of the desserts and sodas, and get everything ready for Saturday. We had 4, and we didn't have nearly enough potato salad and cole slaw. As you probably know, I had already been feeling like maybe this Outreach wasn't supposed to happen, and that just made it worse. So, we got more salads and kept on dishing until the last little piece of cabbage was scraped from the container. There wasn't time to count stuff, so I was just taking a leap of faith that planning was correct and we had enough.

Saturday morning, our alarm went off - 90 minutes late. Fantastic. We were supposed to meet at 7:30 to load stuff up, and then be at the park at 8:00. Of course we were late, but so were the people we were supposed to meet. I got to the park with a truckful of food, and we had 2 volunteers. Two!!! I was terrified, but at that point, there was no turning back. We finished unloading the truck as more volunteers started showing up. And then more, and more. One of our volunteers, Spring Time, said to a man who had been helping us unload "Bye Gary. Are you coming back to eat later?" Up until this point, we all thought he was one of her friends. Oh no - she found him sleeping on one of the picnic tables when she got there, and he helped us unload food that was meant for him (see definition for "humble" above) Very soon after that, she went out in the park to distribute flyers. She came back with a man named Ken. Remember that name - it will be very important later. Then a man with riding a bike with no shirt showed up. He and Ken threw on gloves and helped us wipe down tables and organize food. Food that was meant for them. We got done much earlier than expected, so I told all of the volunteers to sit and rest, spend some time in prayer, and prepare our hearts for what was going to happen that day. We read and discussed Matthew 25, our reason for doing this. I read some excerpts from Eats with Sinners, a book on well, eating with sinners. We listened to Tear Down the Walls by Hillsong United. And then, we prayed. A big group of us, while homeless men were sitting on the tables just behind us. About halfway through, we hear a voice that none of us recognized. He started praying to Yahweh and Jesuwah. I honestly don't remember what he said, but I remember goosebumps and not wanting to pray after him! When we were finished, I looked up and realized it was the guy on the bike. His name is Ronnie. That name will become important too. Somewhere in the moments to come, more people started showing up, and we realized we didn't have as much food as we thought. We started making sandwiches, and realized we didn't have enough bread. We started icing down salads, and realized we didn't have enough ice. It was terrifying at best. We actually left twice to go get more food and drinks, and STILL ran out of food. Our best estimate is 342 people were served. We had 350 forks to start out with, and left with 8. Eight!! We planned on feeding 200. Apparently God had planned on more.

So, the "important" names. First, Ronnie. Viq and I really felt called to give Ronnie some kind of job to do at our house. Now, that's weird for me, because I DON'T give money to homeless people, and I certainly don't tell them where I lived. But, we decided that we had some mulch that needed laid. Ronnie said he'd be over the next morning to work on it for us. He showed up on Sunday morning earlier than he had said, and worked his tail off. I was afraid to tell him where we lived, but decided to trust the Lord with the situation. He then came back to the house on Tuesday night while Viq was at work. I was seriously trembling. But, I went out on the front porch to see what he needed. Nothing. He just came over to tell me thank you for giving him the opportunity to earn a little cash.

Now, for Ken. Ken walks with a cane, has an eye patch, and you can tell he's much older than he should be. One of our volunteers, Misty, prayed with Ken for healing in his legs. And he prayed to give his life to the Lord. At that very moment, I realized that ALL the events leading up to this had been a challenge from God. He knows my heart, but He also knows my willingness to give up when things get hard. I'm so glad I didn't. Would Ken have been saved without the Outreach? Maybe. I don't know. But I'm SO grateful that the Lord used Misty at our Outreach to bring him into the Kingdom.

One of the greatest parts of the day was that we had SO many volunteers that I was able to walk around and talk to people, making sure they had enough to eat and drink, and sitting down listening to their stories. Sometimes, that's all these people want. I looked up 4 or 5 times and noticed there was literally not a place to sit. God SERIOUSLY showed up in that shelter house! Yes, we ran out of food at the end. I never expected that. We were able to make a small donation of potato salad and cole slaw to the Rescue Mission for their evening meal, but not as much as I had planned. There were a LOT of people that came over from the pool next door. Maybe they didn't fall into the target demographic "homeless and underprivileged", but they were hungry, and we were able to feed them. There were little kids in swim gear running around with Dorito-stained orange fingertips. It was awesome.

So, thanks guys. Thanks so much for being a part of this. You JUST don't understand - we couldn't have done it without each and everyone of you. I was going to make a list - a list of items and services people donated. But honestly, there was so much that I just can't remember every single thing.

Alexa Ridgeway

Ally Duncan

Amanda McDowell

Amber Hinton

Bill Merkel

Brandon & Jessica Barnard

Brighton Cornerston Healthcare

Brit Van Laeken

Candice Jenkins

Cathy Lockridge

Chance Schultz

Christy Johnson

Cindy Rose

Damon & Teresa Hancock

David & Sande Hancock

David Kapp

Drew Shockley

Evansville Department of Parks & Recreation

Evansville Print Specialists

Evansville Rescue Mission

Fraternal Order of Eagles #4023-Emily & Family

Ginger Ware

Greek's Pizza

Heath Farmer

Jamie Wayne

Jennifer Griese

Jennifer Williams

Jeremy Secrest

John Bush & Small Group

Junior League of Henderson

Kat Isbell

Ken & Viki Thomasson

Kendra Melchior

Kimberly & Patrick Hodges

Lewis Bakeries

Lindsay Chaffee

Lisa Cresci

Mary Chesire

Matthew & Jennifer Frankic

Melinda Bachman

Misty Miles

Nathan Lengacher

Nick Phillips

Nicole Gibson

Nikky Wilson

Patti Spooner

Patty Vanoven

Rafferty's

Rob Tant

Romina York

Sara Woodard

Spring Time McCullagh

Stacy Kirchoff

Summer & Steve Aulich

Susan Fullerton

Viki Bowers

Now, for Thanksgiving. I'm honestly taking a break from "outreaching" right now. But, Thanksgiving is coming soon. And, we've got plenty of time that we can start planning now, and make it AWESOME! I'm not sure exactly where we will do it, but we are toying with the idea of Henderson. I found out last week that the resources for the homeless and underprivileged are very few there. So, it seems perfect to me. But, we'll see what the Lord has in store for us. Please pray that he will give us some ideas. Thanks again guys. I love working with all of you while being obedient to His calling!

If you have any pictures or reflections from the Outreach, please email them to thomassonoutreaches@gmail.com and I'll post them to the blog.

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Pictures

Ken with Misty, who prayed with him to give his life to Jesus! A one-eyed, illiterate homeless man. That's what it's about guys!
Prayer before we blessed the meal.

Steve. We found out that he was planning on staying on the picnic tables overnight, so we gave him a package of napkins as a pillow. He was SO happy! He needs clothes, so if you guys have 32" pants, Large shirts, or 9 1/2 shoes, let me know.

Look at all that food! Thanks for making it happen!
There were four or five times I looked up and there wasn't a seat in the house. Amazing!

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Prayer requests

Here is what we will be praying for on 6/19 at 815 am CT and 1215 pm CT. Please join us at the park, or in the comfort of your own home

-The Bleemel/Gerlach family. My family will be laying my dear Uncle Bob to rest at 100 pm CT. Specifically pray for his three children, Tommy (19 years old), Willy (16 years old), and BethAnn (12 years old); his wife Karen; his sister (my mom) Cathy; his brother Steve; and my papaw Herman
-The Barnards. I don't really know what to say here; just pray for them.
-The Risch family, as they are going through losing their parents and their child due to a car accident today. It's my understanding that one of their children is in the hospital, and we really need to lift them up
-The Outreach. Pray that we will have the right amount of food, the right amount of guests, the right amount of volunteers, and the right amount of cash for the Barnards. Pray that we will reach those He wants us to reach, and that He will open all of our eyes to see them
-children. All the children who have lost a father. I myself know that it's a very hard time of year
-fathers. All the fathers who have lost a child. I've seen this in our own family, and I've seen how hard it is for these men
-our pastors, worship leaders, church planters, and those at bigstuf
-the homeless who are on our streets and the underprivileged in this town. Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in THIS city!
-all of our volunteers and those who have donated.
-the people who just don't get what we're doing. Hoping we can sow some seeds, or at least pick out rocks so someone else can sow seeds later
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2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Prayer requests

Here is what we will be praying for on 6/19 at 815 am CT and 1215 pm CT. Please join us at the park, or in the comfort of your own home

-The Bleemel/Gerlach family. My family will be laying my dear Uncle Bob to rest at 100 pm CT. Specifically pray for his three children, Tommy (19 years old), Willy (16 years old), and BethAnn (12 years old); his wife Karen; his sister (my mom) Cathy; his brother Steve; and my papaw Herman
-The Barnards. I don't really know what to say here; just pray for them.
-The Risch family, as they are going through losing their parents and their child due to a car accident today. It's my understanding that one of their children is in the hospital, and we really need to lift them up
-The Outreach. Pray that we will have the right amount of food, the right amount of guests, the right amount of volunteers, and the right amount of cash for the Barnards. Pray that we will reach those He wants us to reach, and that He will open all of our eyes to see them
-children. All the children who have lost a father. I myself know that it's a very hard time of year
-fathers. All the fathers who have lost a child. I've seen this in our own family, and I've seen how hard it is for these men
-our pastors, worship leaders, church planters, and those at bigstuf
-the homeless who are on our streets and the underprivileged in this town. Greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in THIS city!
-all of our volunteers and those who have donated.
-the people who just don't get what we're doing. Hoping we can sow some seeds, or at least pick out rocks so someone else can sow seeds later
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2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Be Careful What You Pray For!

Remember how I said I wasn't sure how I got this way, this person I'm turning into? I had a taste of that yesterday. I will preface this by saying Be Careful What You Pray For. Seriously.

Yesterday morning, I was standing in my bathroom drying my hair and Brandon Heath's Give Me Your Eyes came on. Now, I've heard this song hundreds of times. There have been times where it's come on and I haven't paid attention. Other times I've kinda hummed along. And other times, I've seriously prayed it. I've closed my eyes and raised my hands and really meant it. The last time I remember doing that was right before Halloween, and then I woke up one day and wanted to feed hungry people. Yesterday morning was another one of those times. I was running a bit late for work, but didn't realize that something was going to happen that would make me even later. Let's call it a Divine Appointment. I was walking out to the car, and saw a guy just in front of our house pushing a shopping cart full of cans. Now, I don't know that he was necessarily homeless, but he was definitely underprivileged. Right up my alley. So, I grabbed some Outreach flyers out of the car and gave him a dozen or so. He said he lives on Fulton. I've learned in the last 6 months that "I live on Fulton" doesn't necessarily mean he lives in a house on Fulton. Richard said he lived on 1st Avenue by JD Byrider. We later found out he meant under the bridge on 1st Avenue. I then invited the man to go through our recycling bin every other week to get our cans. Who does that?!? The thing was, he was SO appreciative, SO humble. He was seriously a nice guy!

Now, here's why I say be careful what you pray for. Here are the lyrics to the chorus of the song that I was belting out to my Father.

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the brokenhearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten. Be careful with that. Because if it's part of His plan, He will! Don't ask to Tear Down The Walls, because He will make it happen! Maybe as I was singing these songs, I didn't really mean it. Well, it's a bit late for that. He has changed my heart forever. He's given me a heart for the ones forgotten. And I'm hoping that we can reach every single one of those people that He wants us to reach on Saturday. I really truly believe that serving a ham and cheese sandwich and some potato salad and a soda will help at least one person realize that they aren't forgotten.

Now, as far as the Outreach goes, we can still use cash, as we are donating that to the Barnards. You can find out more information at barnardkids.blogspot.com I'd like to give them as much as we can. As far as supplies and food, I think we're good. The only thing we will need is ice, if you'd like to bring some. We'll find out on Saturday if we've got enough food, and worst case scenario, we'll have to go buy more. And, we still need volunteers! Either at 8:00 a.m. for Food Prep, or 12:00 for serving and hospitality. It's really important to me that we have people walking around just talking to these people. I've recently discovered that sometimes all they need is for someone to just sit down and talk to them like they're normal people. If you aren't able to make it, please join us in prayer at 8:00 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. I will post some prayer points later. If you'd like to come to the park just for prayer, please feel free. And if you can only volunteer for an hour, or would like to stay the whole 11 hours, please come on down. Thank for your support guys. I feel so honored to be doing life with people who are so generous and willing to make sacrifices.

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - 3 days to go

We have three days until this Outreach, and we have nearly everything we need. We still need to get sodas and gatorade, snacks and desserts, and ice. If you would like to donate any of these items, please let me know by 4 pm tomorrow, as I will be shopping tomorrow after work.


I am amazed at how this has all come together. I can honestly say it has been a near-disaster since the beginning. There were so many things that went wrong. I'm still wondering in the back of my mind if God was closing doors, or if Satan was trying to stop this from happening. 72 hours from now, I think that question will be answered. I just can't wait to see what God will do with Saturday!

I would like to encourage everyone to come out on saturday after 100 pm, just to check things out. I promise you, if your eyes are open and willing to look, you will see things and people that will forever change you. Please pray for us up until 500pm saturday. I really hope this Outreach is bathed in prayer by my prayer warrior friends

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Wow...

Donations started rolling in yesterday. At this point, we might have too much food (which I'm sure the people we're serving won't mind). There are a few things we still need (desserts, snacks for people to take back to their camps, sodas, sectioned paper plates, ice, clorox/lysol wipes, and jelly) but THAT'S IT!!!! I think God's teaching me something, even though I'm kicking and screaming the whole way through it. I had basically given up. Well, not really. It was still going to happen. But I gave it up to Him. Essentially, I threw my hands up in the air and said "Fine...you do it!" And He is!

We still need volunteers, starting Friday night up until 7:00 p.m. Saturday. It's gonna be hot, gross, and AWESOME. Heck it might even rain. I'm just really fired up to see what He does with this day. Let me know if you're interested in helping, even if only for an hour. I've discovered there isn't much of anything more humbling that being around people who are way worse off than you are.

On a side note, the financial aspect of this has become much more important to me in the last few days. While Pastor Bret was talking to my Papaw, he was ignoring phone calls and text messages that baby Rebecca Sue Barnard had passed away. The Barnard's are the family that we will be donating all of our extra money to. You can get more information on them at barnardkids.blogspot.com I really want to make that an awesome amount. This family's faith is something that should inspire each and every one of us.

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - What I've learned in the last few days

The last 5 days have been a whirlwind. I got word Thursday morning that my uncle Bob had been in a motorcycle accident involving a deer. As the day progressed, his condition worsened. I left work a bit early to head to Indy to be with my family, but was very reluctant to go because we were supposed to pass out flyers on Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Somewhere between Vincennes and Terre Haute, I totally gave this Outreach over to God. There was nothing else I could do, and realized that no matter how much of a control freak I am, at that very moment it didn't matter. I had to trust in the Lord, Viq, Christy Johnson, Kat Isbell, Sara Woodard, and Patty Vanoven to accomplish this without me. I'm sure it didn't go the way I wanted it to, but I'm also sure it went the way HE wanted it to.

My uncle Bob passed away at 6:30 CT on Friday morning. He has left behind three wonderful teenage children and his wife of 22 years. Also, his sister (my mom), his older brother, and my Papaw. There is something absolutely gut wrenching about explaining to an 82 year old man that he will be burying his perfectly healthy 45 year old son, less than a year after he has buried his wife of 55 years.

I found out that the visitation is Friday evening, and the funeral is Saturday afternoon. Yes, the exact times that we will be at the Outreach. I spoke with my aunt and uncle and explained the situation. I was so torn, wishing I could be in two places at once. If they weren't Christians, I wouldn't have done this, but I decided to continue with the Outreach. It would be much harder to miss the Outreach than the funeral. I drove back yesterday morning for church, because I needed to be there. I needed to worship, and sit in the lap of my Father. I was still a bit unsure of my decision. There were baptisms at church yesterday, which always make me cry. It was then that I realized my decision was the right one. That's what it's about guys-saving lost people. My uncle couldn't be "saved", but he was saved by Amazing Grace. We don't know who will show up on Saturday, but I can guarantee there will be at least ONE unsaved person. And if all of this is for just one, then it's worth it.

I want to share some concerns. This Outreach has had SO MANY obstacles, since day one. There was the insurance policy issue. There is the lack of volunteers and donations. Right now, I'm having problems with discernment. Is this a sign that we aren't supposed to do the Outreach, or is this another obstacle to go around? Thanksgiving seemed so easy in comparison to this Outreach. Is that because it isn't supposed to happen, because the Lord is trying to teach me something, or because the enemy doesn't want it to happen? It's so hard to tell right now. I'm not giving up, not yet. The Lord knows my heart, and he knows my determination. For now, the Outreach will go on. I have a feeling that at 7:00 p.m. Saturday, I'll know the answers to these questions.

Please continue to pray for this Outreach. Pray like you haven't before. If you feel called to volunteer or donate, please do so. We're SO FAR behind right now, I'm terrified. But, I'm learning to just give it up to Him and see what He does with it. He knew how it was going to turn out before we ever even had the idea. And please pray for me as I go through the next 5 days. I don't grieve the way I probably should. I expect this week to be hard.

We still need volunteers for Friday evening food prep and all day Saturday. As far as food, we really need individual bags of chips/snacks (peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, etc), potato salad, cole slaw, and desserts.

Thanks in advance.

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - The Flyer

We will be distributing 1000 of these flyers this weekend to the Jacobsville neighborhood. Please let me know if you're interested in helping out, even for an hour or so.

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Updated List

It's really hard to believe that this will be happening in 10 days. Actually, it's terrifying. There's still so much that needs to be done, and it's SO easy to get discouraged. But, we were still picking up pumpkin pies the night before Thanksgiving, so I don't think I need to get worried yet!

We received quite a few donations yesterday, so I wanted to post an updated list. We are still in desperate need of volunteers Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. We will passing out 1000 flyers to the Jacobsville neighborhood, going door to door. At this point, we have 2-3 volunteers, and really need 10-15 or more. There are 16 areas that we need to hit and we HAVE to go in groups of 2 or more. We also still need a lot of volunteers for next Saturday. Please let me know if you are interested.

Here is the updated list of our current needs:

 
Volunteer Teams
June 11 6:00 p.m., June 12 2:00 p.m., and June 13th 1:00 p.m. if necessary
Canvas the neighborhood with flyers notifying residents of the neighborhood of the Outreach

June 18
Food Prep (6:00 p.m.)

June 19
Setup (8:00 a.m.)
Food Prep (8:00 a.m.)
Food Servers (12:00 p.m.)
Hospitality & Food Runners (12:00 p.m.)
Security (12:00 p.m.)
Frontline (people to greet guests and walk around making them feel welcome) (12:00 p.m.)
Cleanup (5:00 p.m.)

Items Needed
Canned Sodas and Bottled Water (300-400 total) - We DONT need bottled water or Dr Pepper
Sectioned Paper Plates (we still need 110)
Coolers (to borrow)
Plastic Table Covering (We have already received all we need)
Paper Towels (We have already received all we need)
200 servings (800 oz) of Baked Beans
200 servings (800 oz) of Cole Slaw
200 servings (800 oz) of Potato Salad
200 servings non-perishable desserts
200 servings chips
Ice
Sanitizer & Wipes
Lunchmeat for 175 Sandwiches
Sliced Cheese for 175 Sandwiches
Mustard
Mayo
Peanut Butter for 75 Sandwiches
Jelly for 75 Sandwiches
Brown Paper Lunch Bags
Industrial Size Roll of Saran Wrap

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Praise the LORD!

I received a phone call this week that all 500 slices of bread have been donated by Lewis Bakeries. We are also getting a lot of donations coming in, but are still in need of a lot too. We really need some people to make or bring potato salad, cole slaw, and desserts (cookies, brownies, snack cakes, etc.) We also need some coolers to borrow. In addition, we need people to help for a couple of hours next weekend with flyers, and we need a lot of people to help the day of the event. Please let me know if you're interested.

Here is an updated list of our current needs

 
Volunteer Teams
June 11-13
Canvas the neighborhood with flyers notifying residents of the neighborhood of the Outreach

June 18
Food Prep (evening)

June 19
Setup (morning)
Food Prep (morning)
Food Servers
Hospitality & Food Runners
Security
Frontline (people to greet guests and walk around making them feel welcome)
Cleanup (evening)

Items Needed
Canned Sodas and Bottled Water (300-400 total)
Sectioned Paper Plates
Coolers (to borrow)
Plastic Table Covering
Paper Towels
200 servings (800 oz) of Baked Beans
200 servings (800 oz) of Cole Slaw
200 servings (800 oz) of Potato Salad
200 servings non-perishable desserts
200 servings chips
Ice
Sanitizer & Wipes
Lunchmeat for 175 Sandwiches
Sliced Cheese for 175 Sandwiches
Mustard
Mayo
Peanut Butter for 75 Sandwiches
Jelly for 75 Sandwiches
Brown Paper Lunch Bags
Industrial Size Roll of Saran Wrap

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - How can you help?

Here is a list of our current needs

 
Volunteer Teams
June 11-13
Canvas the neighborhood with flyers notifying residents of the neighborhood of the Outreach

June 18
Food Prep (evening)

June 19
Setup (morning)
Food Prep (morning)
Food Servers
Hospitality & Food Runners
Security
Frontline (people to greet guests and walk around making them feel welcome)
Cleanup (evening)

Items Needed
Canned Sodas and Bottled Water (300-400 total)
Sectioned Paper Plates
Napkins
Coolers (to borrow)
Plastic Table Covering
Paper Towels
Gloves (Lg and XLg)
200 servings of Baked Beans
200 servings of Cole Slaw
200 servings of Potato Salad
500 slices of Bread
200 servings non-perishable desserts
200 servings chips
Ice
Sanitizer & Wipes
Lunchmeat for 175 Sandwiches
Sliced Cheese for 175 Sandwiches
Mustard
Mayo
Peanut Butter for 75 Sandwiches
Jelly for 75 Sandwiches
Brown Paper Lunch Bags
Industrial Size Roll of Saran Wrap

Prayer…Lots of Prayer!

2010 Garvin Park Outreach - Why do I care?

We are planning another Outreach on June 19th, 2010. Through this planning process, I've been trying to answer a question "How did I get this way?" I've been trying to remember the moment where I decided to feed hungry people. When did that turn into my Holy Discontent? I really can't put my finger on it. I guess I've always had a heart for people, but not like this. How did it happen? I know it came from the Lord, but I really don't recall the Holy Spirit moving my heart in this direction. There was no defining moment for me. I just woke up one day and started caring. I think the Lord was working on me ever so slightly, day by day. If He had hit me in the head with it, I probably would have cried and ran away. Gosh, it's awesome how He knows me so well. But, why do I care about this neighborhood, this town? I mean, there's hungry people all over the world. I could easily donate money and time to them. But, that doesn't get me wired up and fired up. And it's not JUST this neighborhood. I was obviously devastated when Katrina hit. We went through our house and sent what we could. I was obviously devastated when Nashville flooded. So much so that we took two trips down there to help people. And the Garvin Park Outreach - why this? I don't really have any connection to Garvin Park, or that neighborhood. Yet, I'm spending what free time I have trying to get people to donate cash, food, and supplies so we can make sandwiches for hungry people. I'm almost obsessed with it. I'm stepping out of my introverted shell and asking random strangers and businesses for donations. That's not "me" at all. Or not who I was. But, when did I change, and who am I becoming? I grew up in a small town. We didn't have homeless people to "worry" about. And now I'm here, thinking about Richard, praying for him and his friends, asking the Lord to be with them. When we were in Nashville, we drove by some homeless guys on the streets. I told Viq he either needed to move me to a town with no homeless people, or to a town where there were more so I could help them. Who says that?!? I'm a computer dork. A liver, as Pastor Bret put it. My spiritual gift is administration. Yet my dream is to buy the Old Fire Station #10 and open it up, not as a shelter, but as a place to eat Where did that come from? And, what do I do with it?

2009 Fulton Park Thanksgiving Outreach - Recap from Viq

Here is Viq's recap of the day:

So, it's a little over 30 hours later, and I am still trying to process everything that transpired yesterday. I'll just give some of the highlights.

I am NOT a morning person. So, when I crawled into bed at 1:30 the night before, knowing my alarm was set to go off in less than 5 hours, I was dreading it a bit. I woke up 10 minutes before my alarm went off, with an energy I don't know that I have ever felt.

I left the house at 8AM to get the first load of food. On the way back, I figured we would have 4, maybe 5 volunteers. I pulled up in front of my house, and there was every firefighter from Station No. 3, as well as about 20 people i had never seen. Nobody saw it, but I cried before I got out of the car. There was this overwhelming feeling of, "Wow. We actually did it. It's really happening."

I heard some amazing stories yesterday - and not just from the people that we were serving. I met a couple who drove 50 miles to, quite literally, give the coats off their backs. I met a man who had lost two sisters to cancer in the past year. I met a lady who had been unemployed for two years, and had just gotten her first disability check. I met a 16 year old astronomy fanatic who was one of the smartest kids I have ever met. I met a 12 year old girl who is a walking bundle of joy. I met a single mom who wanted to help so desperately, she used her food stamps to buy us supplies - and then stayed for 3 hours. I met a lady who used to be a drug dealer and an atheist - and now is involved in prison ministry. I met a couple that wanted to serve others so badly that they literally drove around Evansville and stumbled upon us. I met a single mom who found out about the outreach less than 12 hours before - and was the first one there to help set up.

Those were just the volunteers. And then, there was Richard.

Richard, along with his brother Richard (seriously) were some of the last two through the line. Before he even got to the mashed potatoes, Richard started crying. He was crying so hard, my wife and her mom sat down and talked to him. He asked why were doing this, and Amy told him, "Because Jesus loves you." He said, "Really?"

Richard is homeless, and lives under a bridge. Richard threw away his beer can as he walked up. Richard was drunk, and had been for a long time. Richard smelled of day old beer and B.O. As he cried, tears and snot ran down his filthy, matted beard. If I had seen Richard on a street corner before yesterday, I would have locked my car door quickly.

But, standing in the freezing cold, we managed to give him something he probably hadn't had in quite a while. We gave him hope. We gave him dignity. We gave him unconditional love, because Amy was right - Jesus does love him.

I was on my way to work tonight, and I saw Richard crossing the street. I turned around and drove by again, just to make sure it was him - and I smiled. I'm not sure if we changed his circumstances much - but for one day, we gave him one thing he probably hadn't had in quite a while.

His humanity.

I don't know if we changed his life. But I know that he changed ours. That image of him crying because he was so thankful that somebody cared enough to do all of this - that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Because no matter how much we did, he is still sleeping under a bridge.

That means our work isn't done. It's only just started.

2009 Fulton Park Thanksgiving Outreach - What we accomplished

Here is a Thank You note we sent out, with a recap of everything that was donated and the volunteers who supported us:

Thanks isn't even an appropriate word. I looked it up in the dictionary and the thesaurus, and I still can't find a word to express what I feel towards those who helped us make the Thanksgiving Outreach a possibility. This literally wouldn't have happened the way it did without all of the volunteers. If Viq and I had to do it on our own, we would have, but it wouldn't have been the huge success that it was.

While I feel like I'm on an awards show, here is a list of the volunteers that came to help Thursday. I sincerely hope I don't forget anyone!
-Cathy & Tom Lockridge, Evansville - cooking, storing food, and delivering meals
-Donna, Leroy, & Jeffrey Bleemel, Jasper, IN - they stayed at my house and cooked all of the food as we needed it.
-Dan Hildebrand, Holland, IN - Dan was referred to us by the Rescue Mission. He helped with setup, cleanup, and delivering meals.
-Rosa Froiland and Christian, Evansville, IN - setup. Rosa also helped pass the word around Shoe Carnival for food donations.
-Keely Perry & family, Evansville, IN - Keely was referred to us by the Rescue Mission. They helped with setup and serving food.
-Melody Anderson & 9 of her family members, Princeton, IN - Melody was referred to us by the Rescue Mission. They helped with setup and serving food.
-Nealy & Renee Vickery, Evansville, IN - Nealy is a friend from church and a co-worker of Viq's They helped with setup, cleanup, and serving food.
-Paul Abramson, Evansville, IN - Paul lives in our neighborhood and received a flyer when we passed them out. He attends First Christian in Newburgh. He helped with serving food and cleanup.
-Emily, Evansville, IN - Emily is a co-worker of Viq's. She helped with setup and serving food.
-Joy Payne, Newburgh, IN - Joy attends BTCC and approached us after the I Heart movie. She and her family helped with setup and serving food. She also took pictures.
-Damon, Teresa, and Dane Hancock, Evansville, IN - The Hancocks attend BTCC. They helped us after delivering meals with the Evansville Christian Life Center. Damon took pictures and shot video, while Teresa and Dane helped serve meals.
-Summer & Steve Aulich & family, Evansville, IN - This family wanted to volunteer somewhere that morning and were turned away by both the Rescue Mission and the ECLC. They happened to drive by, got out of the car, and stayed to help for hours with setup, cleanup, and serving food.
-Stacey Davis & family, Mt Carmel, IL - Stacey was referred to us by the Rescue Mission. They helped with setup, cleanup, and serving food.
-Stacy & Jon Kirchoff, Ft Branch, IN - I work with Stacy at Shoe Carnival. Even though she was sick, they showed up to help serve food.
-Fire Station #3, Evansville, IN - our intent was to feed the firefighters. Apparently the had a different plan, as they already had food! They showed up at 9:00 and helped us setup tables and tarps and carried LOTS of heavy stuff for us. You won't see them in any pictures unfortunately, but they were a huge help.
-Lisa Cresci, Chandler, IN - Lisa came Wednesday evening to help us prep food and desserts.

Now for a list of those who donated. This absolutely blows me away! I know I'm going to miss someone, so PLEASE don't be offended! That's how much food there was!
-Donna & Leroy Bleemel (my great aunt and great uncle), Jasper, IN - they provided 1/2 of the silverware, green beans and corn, all of the carryout containers, all of the dessert containers, turkey, dressing, gravy, and Donna's sister made 10 pumpkin pies.
-Lisa Cresci, Chandler, IN - stuffing and carrots.
-Kimberly Hodges, Evansville, IN - Kimberly cooked two turkeys for us, provided two boxes of brownies and marshmallows for the sweet potatoes.
-Our BTCC Life Group, Evansville, IN - Our lifegroup purchased the two turkeys that Kimberly cooked.
-Joy Payne, Newburgh, In - Joy purchased a TON of food. Dinner rolls, sweet potatoes, stuffing, vegetables, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't remember right now! :-)
-Damon Hancock, Evansville, IN - Damon purchased stove top, gravy, trash bags, paper towels, and baked us a ham.
-Steve Polley, Newburgh, IN - Mr Polley baked us a ham.
-Debbie Hack, Princeton, In - Debbie made 4 turkeys for us. She also collected food from her church family. She was up until 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday finishing the last turkey!
-Teresa Kelly, Boonville, IN - Teresa and her mom got all of the items donated by their church and made three pans of corn casserole.
-Kim & Ken Ellsperman (QDoba), Evansville, IN - The Ellsperman's donated the chaffing dishes and pans, sterno fuel, and plastic wrap.
-Old Tyme Deli, Evansville, IN - Mike at the deli donated a whole ham and baked it for us.
-Marx's BBQ, Evansville, IN - Marx's smoked a whole turkey for us, and changed my tastebuds forever!
-Cathy Angle, Evansville, IN - I work with Cathy at Shoe Carnival. She baked us a whole ham, provided a ton of canned and dry goods, and was a huge source of support.
-Shawn & Christy Tapp, Evansville, IN - purchased our first two cans of green beans.
-Lindsay Chaffee, Newburgh, IN - Lindsay cooked a turkey for me and also bought all of the dessert plates.
-Natalie Jaranowski, Evansville, IN - Natalie offered to let us use her kitchen to cook (turns out we didn't need it!) and bought the paper plates and coffee cups.
-Billie Nichols & Joey Denham (Rafferrty's), Evansville, IN - Rafferty's provided us with a case of sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and let us borrow some supplies along the way. They also gave us all the ice we needed. Viq works for a great place!
-Stacy Kirchoff, Ft Branch, IN - Stacy and her mom provided us with 15 boxes of sweet potatoes and 32 cans of green beans.
-Jen Griese, Evansville, IN - Jen bought 18 cans of turkey gravy.
-Nicole Gibson, Evansville, IN - Nicole bought 10 cans of cranberry sauce.
-Shoe Carnival Payroll Department, Evansville, IN - the payroll dept provided us with 4 large desserts.
-Nick Lindy, Evansville, IN - Nick and his wife made us a ton of cookies.
-Robbie Hodges, Evansville, IN - Robbie baked us a pumpkin pie.
-Rob Tant, Evansville, IN - Rob baked us one the best pecan pies I've ever had!
-Buehler's Buy Low on Morgan, Evansville, IN - they donated a gift card so we could buy supplies.
-Lewis Bakeries, Evansville, IN - donated 25 packs of dinner rolls.
-Bobbi Staten, Evansville, IN - Bobbie baked us an awesome turkey.
-Mandy Cottrel, Evansville, IN - Mandy provided two cases of sodas, stuffing, and corn.
-Jamie Wayne, Carissa Dougan, Patti Spooner, Stacy Kirchoff, and 4 anonymous Shoe Carnival employees - they each donated the $10 Schnuck's gift cards we receive at work.
-Schnucks - they gave us a gift card for supplies. In addition, they donated all of their leftover desserts (three days worth!) and the flowers for table decorations.
-Darlene Hawkins, Henderson, KY - Darlene bought paper plates.
-Evansville Fire Department - In addition to the volunteers, they provided us with paper towels and foil.
-Kerry Sinclair, Evansville Print Specialists - Kerry was kind enough to print the 1000 flyers we needed to canvas the neighborhood.
-Andrea Aubrey, Newburgh, IN - pumpkin pie
-Beth Jones, Evansville, IN - chocolate bundt cake
-Tom Vernarsky, Newburgh, IN - brownies
-Ken & Viki Thomasson (my inlaws), Madisonville, KY - mashed potatoes, jello for cranberry salad, coffee urns.
-Nealy Vickery, Evansville, IN - Sugar, tea, table coverings, and ice.
-Andy Chandler, Newburgh, IN - patio heater and propane.
-Angel Franklin (Ray Ray's), Evansville, IN - chocolate cake and ice.
-Ellan Brown, Evansville, IN - roaster pans.
-Chuck Frary, Newburgh, IN - we didn't know Chuck at all. Viq met him at work. Two days later, he provided us with 12 cases of sodas!
-Bethel Temple, Evansville, IN - tables.
-VFW Post 1114, Evansville, IN - tables & chairs.

I KNOW there is more, but my brain is just not remembering it right now!

Finally, I'd like to thank those who donated financially. There was some stuff we just had to buy, and these people made it possible.
Andy Chandler, Newburgh, IN
David Kapp, Newburgh, IN
Pam Clouse, Evansville, IN
Nick Phillips, Evansville, IN
Cliff Sifford, Newburgh, IN
Billie Nichols, Evansville, IN
Jack Cooper, Newburgh, IN
Brian Wink, Evansville, IN
Michelle & Scott Rose, Evansville, IN
Dr Alvey, Evansville, IN
Melinda Bachman, Henderson, KY
Bill & Cindy Kandel, Evansville, IN
Michelle & Alex Small, Indianapolis, IN

I would also like to thank Sarah and Larry from Fox 7 and Gretchen and Jim from 14WFIE for coming out to cover us. We never expected that, and both stories were great! We hope that the coverage you guys provided will help inspire others to reach out.

There are so many stories that came out of this. I'll post another note soon with those, after my brain has had time to decompress.

I want to thank those who prayed for and supported us. This seriously wouldn't have happened without all of the prayer that we received. And the encouragement was a huge help along they way, when we started to get the "Oh wow...what have we gotten ourselves into" thoughts.

I also want to mention a few people that jumpstarted this idea and didn't even know it.
-Pastor Dave for sending us to the Leadership Summit.
-Pastor Harvey Carey for encouraging us to get out of the huddle.
-Hillsong United for making awesome music that changed our way of thinking.
-Pastor Steve for giving us the go ahead.
-Little Brooklynn Wilhite for inspiring us to give to others and changing our way of thinking. I won't elaborate, but the Fire Station dream is because of her, and she is missed every single day.

So, there's my "list". I'm really good with lists and numbers, and not so much with words. I sincerely hope I haven't forgotten anyone! Once again, thank you! And remember, "you ain't seen nothin' yet" - we're only getting started.

2009 Fulton Park Thanksgiving Outreach - Where we were after only 12 days

Here is another note we sent out. This is all we needed, after being only 12 days into the process:

We are still in need of some very key items. Here is a list of what we still need. Please let me know if you are able to help. We REALLY appreciate it!

Cooked and Sliced Turkeys - I think we need about 6 more. If you want to go ahead and cook and carve them and place in freezer bags, that would be awesome! I'll put them in the freezer until the day before and we'll reheat.

10 cans of cranberry sauce - whole berry or jellied

12 cans or jars of turkey gravy

15 boxes of betty crocker sweet potato mix

10 bags of fresh cranberries

canned carrots

3 bags of mini marshmallows

A BUNCH of 1/2 size disposable aluminum roasting pans

Desserts of any size, shape, and form. We only have about 100 servings of desserts right now.

4 #10 cans of green beans (or 28 regular size)

2 #10 cans of carrots (or 14 regular size)

We are planning on cooking for 250 people. Yes, I said 250. That means 250 servings of pretty much everything.

If you would like to contribute, please let me know as soon as possible. I will be finalizing the list this week and will begin shopping on Sunday 11/22 for the items we don't have.

Once again, thanks so much for generously supporting the Fulton Park Outreach!

2009 Fulton Park Thanksgiving Outreach - How it began

After getting "approval" from Pastor Steve, we sent out the following letter to friends, family, and local businesses:

“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” Matthew 25:35-36


Viq and I have a passion for our neighborhood, and the surrounding neighborhoods. We live on Michigan Street, between First and Fulton Avenues. When trying to decide what to do for Thanksgiving this year, we decided to think out of the box and change our “tradition.” We would like to reach out to our neighborhood and provide a hot, home-cooked meal to those who wouldn’t ordinarily receive one.
We live in a very low-income area, and a lot of the people in this neighborhood don’t have family to spend the holiday with. We plan to serve a free meal to our area at Fulton Park on Thanksgiving Day. We will also be taking food to Fire House No. 3, which is directly across the street from our house. We realize this is a huge undertaking, and have decided we need to ask for help.
Below is a list of things we think we will need. In order to make it happen, we will need the food between Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. and Thursday at 10:00 a.m. We plan to begin serving at 11:30 a.m. We will also deliver meals in our neighborhood for those who are homebound. We are wondering if you might be able to bring a prepared dish for us to serve. In addition, there are some paper goods we will need to serve the food. If you would like to make a monetary donation instead, please let us know. Any leftover food will be donated to the Evansville Rescue Mission and the St Anthony’s Soup Kitchen. Any leftover monetary donations will be donated to the Evansville Christian Life Center. Also, if you would like to help us Wednesday night or Thursday morning with preparing or serving food, please let us know.
If you have something else planned, please don’t feel pressured to participate in this outreach. But, please pray that we may reach our neighborhood through this gift of a hot meal. Also, please pray that we may get a cooked turkey donated to our cause. (We have a small oven, not even big enough to cook a pizza in - and I’ve never cooked a turkey in my life!) Thanks for your time and consideration.
May God bless you richly.
Amy Thomasson (812) 604-0956 promo@smellrecords.com

Menu
Meat
Turkey
Ham

Sides
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Sweet Potatoes
Dressing
Green Beans
Carrots
Corn
Cranberry

Dessert
Any

Breads
Dinner Rolls
Bread

Drinks
Cans of Soda

Miscellaneous
Divided Paper Plates
Plastic Wrap
Individually Wrapped Silverware and Napkin Packets
Coolers (for food storage)
Chafing Dishes and Sterno Fuel
Camping Stoves