Karing for Keegan

There is a little boy from Evansville named Keegan Chupp. I've never met him or his parents Beth & Ryan, but they go to my church. Well, kinda. See, Keegan has medullablastoma. This poor baby even had a stroke before he was born. He was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 7 1/2 months. You can read more about him at http://karingforkeegan.blogspot.com/

His family is getting ready to head to NYC for his second round of treatments. The first worked, but the cancer came back - I believe in his spinal fluid. This poor family has already been through so much, and now they're having to fight this again. I'm pleading with you to check out www.bbqbenefit.com. Some of our friends are having a BBQ Benefit for them this Saturday, to try and get some funding raised for the Chupps. Even if you don't want the BBQ, please consider making a donation. Or, order some BBQ and I'll take it to the Rescue Mission, or to some of my underprivileged neighbors. Also, please consider volunteering Saturday morning. We need 10-12 more volunteers starting at 10:00 a.m. It's over at 2:00, but even if you can only show up for 30 minutes, please let me know.

As you probably already know, we aren't doing a summer outreach. I know that Thomasson Outreaches has a great following. If you've ever donated to us or volunteered with us in the past, please consider this cause. Yes, I'm begging and pleading. I can't imagine what this family is going through. I don't have kids. The only thing I can equate it to is if it was one of my nieces or nephews. And, I know that's not even close to the same. But, I want to help them as much as I can. Not because I have this overabundance of cash laying around. Not even because I love BBQ. Because I know they need it. And that's what "THE CHURCH" does. And, that's what you people do. You donate your time and resources to those less fortunate than you. And for some reason God has called me to organize stuff like that. He has helped me develop a network of people, believers and non-believers alike, that have a heart for outreach. I don't think outreach is only feeding hundreds of people - it can also be focused on one family. Please consider this cause, but do it quickly, as the benefit is this Saturday, so orders need to be placed by Thursday.

Thanks for being the awesome people that you are!!!

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