Early this morning, we received a phone call into the church office from a mother asking for food to feed her family. I was then contacted to see if our Student Ministry Pantry had food available that could possibly be given to her. As the pantry had been hit pretty hard these past few weeks with similar other needs, it was checked to see if we did indeed have enough to tell her we could help. We did, so she was told to come to the church to get what we had. We were able to fill 2 boxes for her from the pantry. Before she left, I had the opportunity to meet her and ask if she had gotten enough food to take care of her family. It was then that she proceeded to tell me how her family recently lost everything they had.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time telling her story, as you can read where 2 major local news stations have already covered it, here and here. Basically, she's a mother living with her 13 yr old son, her retired father, her handicap mother, and her 8 yr old nephew, whom she is raising. About a week ago, a tree fell on their home, while they were inside and destroyed it. No one was injured, but the house was destroyed, to the point that they could not gather anything until it was safely secured. But before that could happen, it rained the following two nights, damaging everything that wasn’t already damaged. Then the following several days, she would receive repeated phone calls from police at the hotel her family was staying in (provided for by the Red Cross) informing her that thieves were going in at night and stealing what was there. This left her family with nothing, and I mean nothing with the exception of the 4 sets of clothes that the Red Cross purchased for each family member and the pajamas they had on when they walked out of the home.
So where do you come in to play!? Today they were provided a new home to go to, she was actually leaving the church to go and get the power turned on. The only problem is, is that this home is an empty one… it has no furniture or furnishings. Below are 3 super simple ways that you can help this family!
1) BEST OPTION … Can you go through your stuff and find some extra things lying around that you could donate to this family in order for this house to become there new home? I have her contact number and her new address here in Rock Hill, if you would like to arrange a time to drop some things off, just contact me and I can get that over to you.
Collected so far
- couch
- chest of drawers
- mattress and box springs
- refridgerator
2) You can give money to them by clicking on the "Donate" button below; THIS MONEY WILL GO TOWARDS GIFT CARDS FROM LOCAL CLOTHING PLACES TO MEET THEIR NEEDS (GOODWILL AND ECT) I can assure you that 100% of what you give will be given straight to them.
3) Pray for the Talley family.
In less than 48hrs my wife and I will be on a plane headed to New York City with a team of 21 others from our church for a 7 day mission trip. We both have been there several times in the past, business trips, New Years eve 2009, honeymoon, etc. but never like this. We've "experienced" this enourmous city, we've seen the sites and sounds that NYC has to offer, but we have also experienced the hopelessness found among the people there. Homeless, broken, hurting, people in need of hope and an answer. We are partnering with New York School of Urban Ministry while we are there, to bring hope to the hopeless. While there we will be in the streets, in homeless shelters, soup kitchens, after-school programs, church's, etc.
So here's what we are asking: will you partner with us as we head to NYC to give hope to the hopelessness? We would love for you to pray for us first and foremost, but as you can imagine, a trip like this requires financial support from numerous people. A trip like this can be very costly for anyone, much less a young married couple. The main expenses of the trip have already been covered, such as plane tickets and housing. However, additional expenses such as baggage fees, food, supplies, etc are still needed. Our goal is to raise up $300 to help cover these expenses within the next 48hrs. If you would like to support us, please use the "Donate!" link below. It's easy and secure. No donation is too small for us. Thank you and God bless!
Additional suggested items to be purchased or donated.
-wrapping papter and wrapping supplies
-manicure and pedicure
-hair cut(s)
Here are 2 ways to get them to me to get them to her:
Yesterday I took a leap of faith, a chance, a step into the unknown. I got a phone call about 4 families in need. At 11:21am I felt lead to post a blog to give my friends, family, and others involved to help this for families that the Pilgrims Inn put me in touch with. You can read the rest of that post here.
So here's the news.....btw this is not a preacher story, you know the ones that make everything seem bigger than they really are, this is the real deal.
Because you gave, called, and shared, within the last 24hrs, not only have ALL 4 families been completely adopted, meaning Christmas provided, but there is also an EXTRA $484.54 that will go towards a 5th family AND towards providing the homeless shelter with toys for children and gift cards from Bi-Lo, Walmart, and Target for families that may show up between now and Christmas!
So let me be clear, because YOU gave, whether it was was $1, $10, $20, $50, or $100's, there are now more than 5 families that will get to celebrate Christmas this year.
Let me introduce you to the 5th family we will be helping this Christmas. Malika, is the lady that I spoke with over the Community Thanksgiving Dinner at our church the other week about partnering with the local homeless shelter. She attended the dinner along with her 3 children. I had a chance to speak with them for about 15mins, as she and I spoke of the many ministry opportunities that are available at Pilgrims Inn. I also got to get to know alittle about her and her family. She is a wonderful mother to her 3 children, in which the oldest has chronic kidney disease. Although she is currently unemployed, Malika, volunteers all her time in between looking for jobs and juggling a family, serving at the Shelter helping others in need. As you can imagine, providing Christmas for 3 children off of a slim unemployment check is hard. So here's a hard working lady that as she volunteers her time to seeing others get their needs meet, but never ask for a dime for herself or her family. So in the Christmas spirit of giving, I think it is only appropriate that we help this wonderful mother meet the needs of her family this Christmas season.
So once again thank you for giving and being a blessing this Christmas season. And for the others that wanted to give but didn't or couldn't, I'm sure this is not the last time you will see me attempt something like this. Those that are less fortunate have always struck a cord in my heart and it has taken me a few years to realize that all I need to do is to take a leap of faith, and trust Christ and He will see that His people meet the needs of others, all you and I have to do is to be obedient!
Merry Christmas
If you are reading this, then that tells me something about you! You obviously have a heart to help someone in need or God has brought this to your attention because He wants you to get involved and help a family in need this Christmas season.
Back story: A few weeks ago we had a Community Thanksgiving Dinner here at our church and I connected with a lady that volunteers with a local homeless shelter, you can view their site here. I expressed to her that if there is ever a pressing need that arises, there at the shelter, that I would love to help her find a solution to the need.
Phone call: Early this morning I received a phone call from the local shelter, informing me that they have 4 families that will NOT receive Christmas this year and if I could help them out in any way. It completely shattered me to think that a child, a brother, a sister, a mom or a dad would not be getting anything for Christmas. So I agreed without hesitation to help. Well maybe with a slight hesitation, considering the fact that I, personally do not have the funds to provide Christmas for all 4 of these families. But, I have friends (both new and old), family (both close and distant), church members (both past and present), facebook friends, twitter followers, and others (somewhere along that list includes you), that if we were to all work together towards one common goal, we could make it happen for these families.
So here's what I'm asking, I promise you its not much and it is legit.
A) Give: give what you can, if you have been blessed, take a minute to bless someone else. There are several ways you can do this, see below.
B) Share: share this site or information with your friends and family. You can do this by clicking on the "share" buttons to the right on "facebook" or "twitter", you can also copy and paste the link in your browser to a email and add in the subject line something to the affect of "I gave, will you?"
GIVE there are 3 different ways you can give.
1) click on the Pay Pal "Donate" link below through Pay Pal and give what ever amount you want to, anything from $1 to $100. This money will come straight to my account and I will in return go and purchase the items that these families have requested, such as clothes, shoes, food cards, and etc. If you are not familiar with Pay Pal , it is a safe and secure location that most online business and non profit organization's use. You do NOT need an account with Pay Pal to make a donation, you can click here and it will take you straight to a place you can make a donation. I can also assure you 100% of the money you give will go towards helping these families in need, I do not need gas money to get to the store to purchase the items, I do not need a meal on the way, 100% will go towards the families in need.
2) Call The Christmas line for Pilgrim's Inn at 803-327-0999, leave a message with your name and number and they will get back to you as quick as they can. Tell them I sent you and that you would like to help out, this way we will all be helping the same families out. They will provide ways for you to help through donations or physically giving some items to these families.
3) Go to the Pilgrim's Inn donation site, which is found here, and make a donation. In the "Designation" section write "Christmas Fund" in the "Dedication or Gift" section write "MichaelPolston" this will just let them know that we are helping out with the same families.
Now that you know what to do, do it, and do it now! There is no better time to give, than right this minute! Be the blessing, this Christmas, make a difference!
Share: take the time to let someone else get involved and make a difference this year!
"to help the poor is to honor God...The Christian who is pure and without fault, from God the Father's point of view, is the one who takes care of orphans and widows...If you give to the poor, your needs will be supplied! But a curse upon those who close their eyes to poverty...If you give to the poor, your needs will be supplied! But a curse upon those who close their eyes to poverty..."
