As many of you are aware, one of our ServeLocal partners is Harvest Center. We just received this update from them and I thought it needed to be shared with you. Please read below.
Thank you for your faithful and sustained support of the Harvest Center on behalf of those less fortunate neighbors in our community.
The increase that we saw in 2008 has continued. For the first quarter of 2009 we saw an increase of over 29.7 % in our food pantry as compared to 2008. We served families over 5,400 times in those three months reaching an estimated 6,816 individuals.
In our hot meals program, we serve five (5) meals per week and an average 245 individuals per meal. This is an increase of about 19 % over the first quarter, 2008. We picked up a greater number of individuals from the Lucille Giles Center on Statesville Avenue and from the Salvation Army Shelter on Spratt Street.
We are seeing many, many new people coming to utilize our food and clothing programs. An unofficial tally based on inspection says we are serving a greater number of Hispanics and White families and individuals. We estimate that we serve Hispanics about 10 % of the time, up from about 2 %, and Whites about 4 % of the time, up from about 1 %. As you may know, African-Americans make up the rest of the people that we serve. We are finding that people, in general, are more grateful and are willing to wait to be served longer. We are getting many more intentional “thank you’s.”
Unfortunately, our donations have not kept up with the growing need. As you may know, our monthly expenses average about $41,000 per month. We have currently only enough money to cover a few weeks worth of expenses
Please visit the Harvest Center website for ways that you can help. http://www.theharvestcenter.org/
God Bless,
RJ
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I came across this African proverb a couple weeks ago and it now sits on a sticky note on my desk so I read it often.
“If you want to go fast, go it alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
My hope and prayer is that Church at Charlotte will serve together and go far together.
God Bless,
RJ
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On Saturday, Dr. Norman Borlaug passed away at the age of 95. My guess is you have never heard of this man who spent his life leading the charge to eradicate poverty worldwide through food production. Dr. Borlaug, a scientist, never sought after accolades or praise, but tirelessly served others throughout his life. I have no idea about his personal faith, but I do know that his concern for others is remarkable. I recently blogged about the book Enough where the authors used much of Dr. Borlaug’s research. I’ve posted two videos about Dr. Borlaug’s work and an article about his life from The Washington Post.
God Bless,
RJ
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Click here for the article.
One of our initiatives in Ethiopia is supporting the Langano School that is near the Sports Friends Camp. The school is run by SIM and Church at Charlotte is helping them build a library (construction and materials, books, etc…).
I recently received this newsletter that tells a powerful story about the impact the school is having in the area, especially with young girls. Check it out! Simply click on the picture to view in fullscreen.
If you are interested in learning more about this project or making a financial contribution, please contact me at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
God Bless,
RJ
Here’s a great picture of one of the wells we have funded through our Ethiopia initiatives. We have partnered with Water is Life for the construction of these wells. According to their website, 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water. Additionally, according to UN statistics, approxiamtely 5,000 children die each day from unclean drinking water. Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about this or our other Ethiopia initiatives.
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Inscription on the well reads:
Struggling well with life
Stirred by the scriptures
And serving others
Thanks goes to Hannah Davison for sharing this picture from the youth mission trip to Ethiopia this summer!
God Bless,
RJ
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Stirred By The Scriptures
by Jim Kallam
Struggling Well With Life
by Mark Hoffman
Serving Others
2500 Carmel Road
Charlotte, NC 28226
704.364.5913
©2012, Church at Charlotte
Sunday - 8:15, 9:30 & 11:00
Saturday - 5:15 p.m.
