Camper Workday
Today is another camper workday. Prayerfully we will be able to install the ceiling tiles and possibly the carpet. All of this depends on the cost of material. A friend of ours has some leftover carpet and padding, which should be able to do both campers and since it is for the ministry, they only want $50.00 for it. The sub-flooring we received for free. At work they were going to throw away some wooden tables that are made out of plywood and 2x4's so we asked for them. The ceiling tiles will be the major expense of the day. It will probably cost about $75.00 to finish the campers out. The roofs have been repaired and a contractor from a local company has a couple of buckets of Cool-Seal that he wants to donate to us.
It seems so sad, that we are struggling to raise $1800.00 more dollars in order to finish out the existing campers and get them on the campground to house 8 people. St. Martin's youth raised $500.00 for the campers (those guys are so awesome), NJ Catholic Charities donated $200.00 and a couple of people in the community donated small amounts, but if it wasn't for a nice lady (who does not want to be known)who gave a generous donation, we wouldn't be this far.
This struggle made me think back to the movie "Our House" and how Doris' character was able to pull her checkbook or Credit Card out at any given moment and drop $20+ thousands at a time. She ordered, by the truckloads, electronics and appliances and the groceries were never ending. Not to say this is unrealistic because there are people who can afford to do that, but would they do it for the homeless? Ministries and programs that want to assist the homeless typically struggle for funds. I know it has been a struggle for us here in Williamsburg. Sad to say that we live in an area that is wealthy, yet because it is a tourist area, the focus remains on the guests and not the community. But I guess the homeless aren't seen as part of the community.
Even in the movie "Our House" the homeless had their own community, which was eventually incorporated into Ruth Galloway's (Doris Roberts)life. And when I talked with Sheri at the Hallmark Movie Channel, she had commented on the fact they had many homeless shelters and programs out west, it just wasn't enough. Judy Reyes, who plays Nurse Carla Espinosa on "Scrubs" did a great job in the movie, in my opinion. I wonder if she went out to 'study life on the streets'? At first I wondered how they, (Roberts and Reyes) felt about this subject until I re-read the promo for the movie that Hallmark sent, which states, "Hallmark Channel, Doris Roberts and Judy Reyes have made a commitment to utilize the press and promotion of "Our House" to help create awareness and understanding of the needs of America's homeless." So I am at a crossroad...do you look at this as an opportunity to bluntly ask them for help by donating a few dollars or is that considered rude and bad etiquette? Is this an opportunity that God placed in front of me to say "Here are some people who may understand and have money to help." God does say "seek and ye shall find." So, here it goes...Mrs. Roberts and Ms. Reyes, if you read this (or catch wind of it through Hallmark) and you have a few dollars to spare, please keep us in mind.
Believe it or not, that last sentence was very hard to type because I am not very good at asking for monetary help. Basically, if I was living on the streets and had to panhandle, I would starve!
Today is another camper workday. Prayerfully we will be able to install the ceiling tiles and possibly the carpet. All of this depends on the cost of material. A friend of ours has some leftover carpet and padding, which should be able to do both campers and since it is for the ministry, they only want $50.00 for it. The sub-flooring we received for free. At work they were going to throw away some wooden tables that are made out of plywood and 2x4's so we asked for them. The ceiling tiles will be the major expense of the day. It will probably cost about $75.00 to finish the campers out. The roofs have been repaired and a contractor from a local company has a couple of buckets of Cool-Seal that he wants to donate to us.
It seems so sad, that we are struggling to raise $1800.00 more dollars in order to finish out the existing campers and get them on the campground to house 8 people. St. Martin's youth raised $500.00 for the campers (those guys are so awesome), NJ Catholic Charities donated $200.00 and a couple of people in the community donated small amounts, but if it wasn't for a nice lady (who does not want to be known)who gave a generous donation, we wouldn't be this far.
This struggle made me think back to the movie "Our House" and how Doris' character was able to pull her checkbook or Credit Card out at any given moment and drop $20+ thousands at a time. She ordered, by the truckloads, electronics and appliances and the groceries were never ending. Not to say this is unrealistic because there are people who can afford to do that, but would they do it for the homeless? Ministries and programs that want to assist the homeless typically struggle for funds. I know it has been a struggle for us here in Williamsburg. Sad to say that we live in an area that is wealthy, yet because it is a tourist area, the focus remains on the guests and not the community. But I guess the homeless aren't seen as part of the community.
Even in the movie "Our House" the homeless had their own community, which was eventually incorporated into Ruth Galloway's (Doris Roberts)life. And when I talked with Sheri at the Hallmark Movie Channel, she had commented on the fact they had many homeless shelters and programs out west, it just wasn't enough. Judy Reyes, who plays Nurse Carla Espinosa on "Scrubs" did a great job in the movie, in my opinion. I wonder if she went out to 'study life on the streets'? At first I wondered how they, (Roberts and Reyes) felt about this subject until I re-read the promo for the movie that Hallmark sent, which states, "Hallmark Channel, Doris Roberts and Judy Reyes have made a commitment to utilize the press and promotion of "Our House" to help create awareness and understanding of the needs of America's homeless." So I am at a crossroad...do you look at this as an opportunity to bluntly ask them for help by donating a few dollars or is that considered rude and bad etiquette? Is this an opportunity that God placed in front of me to say "Here are some people who may understand and have money to help." God does say "seek and ye shall find." So, here it goes...Mrs. Roberts and Ms. Reyes, if you read this (or catch wind of it through Hallmark) and you have a few dollars to spare, please keep us in mind.
Believe it or not, that last sentence was very hard to type because I am not very good at asking for monetary help. Basically, if I was living on the streets and had to panhandle, I would starve!
posted by Patti @ 8:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home