THE PARK VIEW REVIEW

(September - December 2018)

A Note to Our Faithful Readers

Reflecting on the past and looking ahead to the future

You have probably been wondering why you haven't heard from us for some time. We apologize that it has been a few months since our last newsletter. Things have been growing like crazy over here and we have just been trying our best to keep up! We are constantly amazed by all the work that God is doing here at Park View Community Mission and in the lives of so many. The Lynchburg community is truly being impacted by the work of staff, partners, volunteers, and supporters, like you. We cannot thank you enough for your faithful support. We hope you enjoy reading about all that has been going on and what is to come and that you share our story with those around you!

What's Been Going On?

Welcome Our New Staff!

As so much is changing and growing, so is our staff! As of January, 2019, we are excited to announce that we now have three full time employees. Gordy Harper has been promoted to the Executive Director of Park View. Rachel Koenig has become Director of Food for Families and will also be serving as the Assistant Director of Park View. Brittany Melvin is our newest full time employee, and will be our Community Resource Coordinator over the Resource Center. We are so thrilled to see our team continue to grow as God calls people to join our community.

Resource Center

BRITTANY MELVIN - Brittany is no stranger to Park View. Although she may be a new face to some, many of our neighbors recognize her from when she was a speaker in their Getting Ahead class as she encouraged participants to persevere. She is also known for helping many in the community with day-to-day needs. The opportunity to manage Park View's Resource Center came when Brittany was at Park View for a resource fair. It was nothing short of a divine encounter, when Brittany was introduced to Gordy and recommended for the position. It was quickly evident that she was the missing piece Park View needed. Brittany has a background in connecting people with resources, because at a time in her life she was in that same place- in need of help. She shared with us, "That's who I am, that's what I do! I am a community connector, passionate about seeing lives not just changed but transformed for the better. This is not about helping one person temporarily. This is about impacting the family unit to impact generations to come. I was there once. I just needed help. I needed a fresh and higher perspective. I needed opportunities. I know that's simply what others need too". Brittany, we could not be more excited and thankful to have you join the Park View family!

Park View Cafe

JUSTINE KRIGER - As many of you know, our Wednesday night meals are a huge part of what we do at Park View. Serving over 100 meals every week, this program is vital to many of our neighbors. If you have served with us in recent months, you may have noticed some incredible changes. Those changes wouldn't have been made without Justine Kriger, our new Wednesday night meal facilitator! Or should we say Park View Cafe? Since that is the new name that Justine has created for this program. And how fitting it is! Justine has transformed the meals into quite an experience. She is so well loved by all, especially the people she serves.

One night, when there was an issue with preparing the food, Justine decided we were going to have to order pizzas instead. She apologized to the neighbors for not having provided the meal they had planned on. One neighbor replied, "That's okay Miss Justine, we don't care about the food, we just love you!" The rest of neighbors chimed in in agreement and applauded. We couldn't agree more, we are thrilled to have Justine as well!

Food for Thought

  As you may have heard, we launched our new program, Food for Thought which has been expanding rapidly. We’ve been able to feed 500 food insecure students a week in the district and we’re not close to done growing yet! As we strive to meet the needs of our neighbors in the community, the doors continue to open for new opportunities to impact the schools in Lynchburg. During the holiday season, we were able to hand out Thanksgiving bags with mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and other traditional fixings over 250 students with gift cards to buy their families a Thanksgiving turkey, ham, or fresh produce and gave out an extra large bag of supplies for the winter break with gift cards to 300 students along with a holiday card for Christmas!

           We are continually blessed with generous donations, volunteered time, and resources but as we continue growing, the need continues to grow as well! We give out over 1,600 single portion snacks throughout the week to the children so they don’t have to question where their next meal is coming from over the weekend. If you’d like to partner with our Food for Thought organization, please consider volunteering your time Wed 4:30-6:30pm and Saturdays 9:30- 11:30 or purchasing single-serve packets of granola bars, peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, goldfish, or pretzels. Learn more here !

Food for Families

Since the beginning of the school year in September, the Food for Families program has already reached 500 new families, resulting in 1,323 new individuals shopping at our pantry! We've been able to reach families in our community by referral through schools participating in the Food for Thought program, social services, local organizations, and churches. This way we are able to meet not only the needs of children, but the whole family during this holiday season. However, the need still exist and more families still need to be reached. You can help us by continuing to spread the word!

The Holidays - What a Time of the Year!

A Very Full Thanksgiving...

This year, thanks to many generous donations, we were able to provide families with just what they needed for a Thanksgiving meal. From cranberry sauce to stuffing to turkeys, shopping carts were full. Thank you for donating! We were able to receive 250 turkeys from Walmart to distribute to families who would have otherwise gone without. Thank you Walmart, our generous supporter!

And a Very Merry Christmas!

Because of generous donations from a few individuals and the help of many volunteer hands, including the Family and Consumer Science Honor Society from LU, we were able to decorate the Food for Families pantry with beautiful Christmas decorations to enjoy the season of celebration.

Educational Program

We are continuing to hold classes such as our Computer Skills course taught by First National Bank. As their graduation quickly advances, and our Getting Ahead class, provided by Lynchburg Social Service, will be starting up again in February. Further details about the times, dates, and how to get plugged into a class will come shortly. We are eager to see what new possibilities will come this year as educational opportunities continue to expand!

USED COMPUTERS

We believe in equipping our neighbors with the resources to succeed, and in this case thats computers! We are still in need of donated used or new computers for our computer class. Students who attended the 8-week long computer class will receive a computer at graduation to take home with them. If you have any computers or computer parts no longer want or don't work, bring them by Park View on a Wednesday and our Lighthouse Communications program will repair them for our neighbors! Learn more about it here !

Feeling Moved to Donate to a Program?

Decide which program you would like to support and click the link below!

How YOU Can Help!

Clothing Organizing

Clothes, clothes and more clothes! We are so thankful for all the clothing donations we have been receiving; they are so very needed! But we are now outgrowing our space and capacity for clothing. Thankfully we can now use our warehouse space provided by Liberty University for storage use, but we need your help organizing all of it. We need individuals every Wednesday who can help sort, fold and hang clothing for our neighbors to select from. Please email us if you are interested!

Needed Pantry Items

Please be praying for...

Park View Community Mission Staff & Info.

Office phone : 434-845-8468

Office Hours : Mon. - Fri. 8:30am - 4:30pm

Distribution Hours : Thurs. 2pm—4pm, Sat. 12pm—2pm

Wed. Night Meals : 4:30—Doors open 5:00—Music & Devotion 5:30—Dinner Served