My small group will be working with P.S.S. (Pregnancy Support Services) by cleaning the office and painting a few walls for them. The best part is that this will be an on-going relationship that will extend past the Week of Hope. We will be cleaning the P.S.S. offices for the next six months as well as help support and encourage a family. We're really looking forward to the beginning of this relationship and for the opportunity to serve our community.
For our family project, we are going to pay the $2.00 admission fee for a number of children swimming at the Long Meadow pool in Durham for one of the Week of Hope days.
Our SummitLIFE group will be doing yard and house projects for people in the neighborhoods that we live in. We are identifying people who do not already have lawn care and may need some help around the house. This is a great way to develop relationships with people in our own neighborhoods.
Our small group has two families in the group that live across the street from one another and at the end of the road. We are going to invite the other families on the road to a real block party!
One of the girls in our group works for a Boys and Girls Club in Raleigh. So we are going to provide some fun days for the kid's that week: water games and balloons, pizza, movie and popcorn, etc. Our group would love to get more involved this fall and continue blessing these kids.
My small group is excited to partner with another group to have a cookout in a neighborhood nearby. We will host this in an area with basketball courts for the guys to play with some of the men who may come and will have face painting and other games for the kids. Of course, our hope is that they would see Christ's love for them and would be drawn to it and to our church. What a blessing it will be to serve the people here in this way. We are looking forward to Week of Hope!
Biker and Pedestrian Safety Education Cookout for Burmese Refugee Community: We are bringing in a speaker with translator to explain pedestrian and biker safety to people in the Burmese community in Carboro and Chapel Hill. We are collecting bicycles and safety equipment donations and will give them away to those that come. Cook-out food and play for children will also be provided. Email egsink@gmail.com if you life group would like to join in or you have donations! We need more volunteers!
Our small group is joining with a few others to help repair and clean up the playground at Oxford Manor (a Durham public housing complex). We will also be repairing/putting up new clothes lines for the residents. If your group is looking for a project to get involved with, we'd love more help! email uncgrad03@gmail.com for more info
We, the Women of the Word group, made a joint decision to help P. S. S. again this year. The decision to make and pray over the "Mommy gifts bags" was made in order to reach a larger number of troubled, lonely and possibly unsaved women. We wanted to show God's love to them and hopefully bring some joy and a smile to a difficult situation. The 26 bags were made with much fun and laughter, sisters aiding sisters. We also committed to financing an educational pregnancy video to be used at the center. "WOW" , Renee Williford, Cathy Clark, Donna Blalock, Carol Swain, Dot Ellis, Joan Swain, Dolly Utley, Kathy deRoeck, Nancy Scott, Susie Nolff, JoAnn Stinett, Carol Frazer and Ellie Warner "As you did unto the least of these, my "sisters", you did unto me."
Our small group has started visiting the Agape Corner in Durham; it's a Christian boarding school that currently houses ~40 kids of all ages. They live in a very old rundown house without A/C. We have been bringing them fans and installing curtains, but the true magic has been in just spending time with these kids! The girls have been receiving facials and pedicures, and we play sports with the boys. They are receiving the attention like a cactus getting water!
Our small group is excited to reach out to 120 Child Welfare social workers, who work long hours to serve families in Durham and ensure the safety of the children in our community. Since the emotional stress of this work is so high, we have decided to give assorted gift bags to express our appreciation for their hard work. We would love to have lots of help with our project (either with donations, putting the bags together or handing them out during our Child Welfare Appreciation day on Thursday, July 10th), so please email me at hdredla@gmail.com if you or your small group is interested. I know they will greatly appreciate your help and encouragement!
My group is partnering with two other groups to purchase furniture for the teacher's lounge at Burton Elementary School. We are hoping to purchase a couch, table with four chairs and other decorative items. We are looking for donations or three additional to partner with us in order to purchase these items. Please let me know if your group would like to donate or serve with us at Burton. Contact info: abcdunn@hotmail.com
Our Hope for Durham project centers around Fire Station 13, located in front of our Brier Creek campus. Tonight we treated the guys there to a delicious homecook meal. By the way they ate, I think it went very well. Even though the food was mouth watering and plentiful, the bulk of our resources, time and energy went into making goodie bags for the wives and girlfriends of these fellows. Besides showing appreciation ,our main objective for tonight was to get to their hearts (and their families) by way of their stomachs. The bags for the ladies are very nice and very personal and we are praying that these women whom we have never met will respond to our invitations to join us at group or at church or maybe they just need a new friend. We have a yearning to connect with these ladies and support them and their families. Tonight was the first step of an ongong ministry. We have specific plans in place for our first follow up. I am so thankful for our group and for the ladies in it. They showed up in force and with food and with friendly smiles. The guys asked us if we could return tomorrow. It won't be that soon, but we will be back and Lord willing, lives will be impacted.
Our group is partnering with another group in Wake Forest to be a blessing to a middle school in Franklin County. We will be working there with the custodian who is solely responsible in the summer for the upkeep of the school and the preparation for kids coming in the Fall. We will be washing windows, dusting, cleaning floors and whatever else he has for us. We will also be using our combined seed money to buy school supplies that will be arranged and given to students in the Fall who cannot afford school supplies. We have an ongoing partnership with the school during the year as some of our members go there to tutor students on a weekly basis.
Hillary Dredla had a great idea for our group. We are showing our appreciation to Durham County's Dept. of Social Services, thanking them for their work in the community. They work with very difficult family situations, including making sure that the children in Durham are cared for. We will be distributing gift bags and notes to 120 workers.
I found out about a need in Raleigh that you may be interested in for your group project. Helping Hand Mission is hosting a summer camp for kids all summer and would love to have a group come during the day to serve lunch and lead in activities. The contact is Sylvia and she can be reached at 829-8048. My group was looking for a project (but one in the evening) and we came across this.
Our group has served at Raleigh Resuce Mission for three months. We cooked meals and got to meet some residents at the mission. Our group is going to take the $100 seed money and buy some urgent needs that Mission has. We also plan on continuing our work with the Mission and serving them in anyway we can.
Our group is going to the Carver Living Center (Rest Home and Rehabilitation Center) to host an afternoon activity. We will provide refreshments and have music, a service dog to interact with residents, and we will visit and pray with the residents and staff.
My baseball team decided to go the Agape Corner and help out there. We had 14 people with us. Ten 13 year old kids and paint don't always go together well. We painted the fence and took a tour of the school. We wanted our kids to see how good they have life. I heard several comments from then kids saying how fortunate they were. There normal school wasn't that bad after all. We plan on going back and taking the kids to play some baseball during PE. It was good to see so many Summit members helping there. It was a good learning experience for all! Thanks Chris
The Bahama Summit Life Group was blessed to spend the day at Agape Corner In Durham helping to do some needed cleaning and painting. Our group member, Ed Godley, is a regular helper at Agape and has a special place in his heart for this ministry. We were happy to be able to come along side him in his efforts to bless the children of the Agape ministry.
My small group is serving the staff and patients of the Adolescent Neuroscience Unit at UNC Hospitals, where one of our members works. We have delivered breakfast and lunch and made gift bags for each of the staff, including a gift card for the coffee shop in their building. We used our $100 to purchase books of a high school reading level for the patients, and delivered homemade cookies to them.
We got to do yard work for an elderly neighbor last night before t-storm hit. Our group brought & had dinner with her too. It was fun getting together for this as a group. Still planning a block party for labor day weekend.
Thank you for the Basket we (Social Workers at Durham County DSS) received this morningas a part of this project. It was a pleasant surprise early in the morning and a special thanks to Hilary Dredla. I really hope for the your success with this project in reaching out to those in need in Durham. Thanks
THE GREAT WATERMELON CAPER Our group delivered ice cold watermelons to all fifthteen Durham Fire Department locations on Wednesday just before dinner time. We spent some time at each station thanking them for their service to the city. The seemed very appreciative and a number asked about the Summit
The Hillsborough Group went to the Ronald McDonal House Sunday the 13th and fixed dinner for the families living there while their kids are getting treatment at Duke. We had a great time preparing and serving the meal and getting to talk with some of the families there. This is a project we aim to continue on a monthly basis, and hope to add our bible study time to it as well. The families at RMH are from all over the country and stay for very long lengths of time - from prior to diagnosis to follow-up treatment for various conditions.