Hear Inspiring Stories at our NEW Series of 2022-2023 Benefit Dinners

The 2022-2023 series of benefit dinners for Mount Dora Children's Home will launch with the first dinner on Saturday, August 27, in Nashville, Tennessee.

We've worked hard to put together a new presentation that best tells the story of how God is using this ministry to rescue and change lives. You're going to hear inspiring stories from a single mom, a high school student, and an alumnus of Mount Dora Children's Home. 

If you live in Middle Tennessee, we hope you can join us in Nashville. Tickets may be obtained from participating area churches, or call our Development Office at 352-383-0762. 

Nashville is just the start. Here is the schedule for all the benefit dinners during the 2022-2023 school year:

• Nashville: August 27, 2022
• Palm Beaches: October 15, 2022
• Sarasota/Bradenton: January 14, 2023
• Montgomery: February 9, 2023
• Boyd Scholarship Dinner: February 25, 2023
• Jacksonville: April 22, 2023
• Greater Tampa Bay Area: May 13, 2023

MDCH Kids Start Back to School

From preschoolers to high schoolers, children from Mount Dora Children's Home started back to school this week. They are especially blessed because for most of them going to school only means a walk across campus to Mount Dora Christian Academy. The Children's Home students benefit greatly from daily chapel, Bible classes, and the mentoring of Christian teachers and coaches at the Academy.

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The cost of going back to school continues to climb! This year's inflation has been hard on our parents when they shop for school clothes and supplies. Would you be willing to help? You can donate today to our Back-To-School Appeal. To learn more, click here.

Note: We recently launched a new column in this e-newsletter called Church Spotlight. It's our way of saying "thank you" to the many local congregations that faithfully support this ministry year after year.

This month we want to say a special "thank you" to the Concord Street Church of Christ in downtown Orlando. The elders and other members at Concord Street have faithfully supported Mount Dora Children's Home for decades and have remained supportive through many leadership and program changes on our campus.

"We've been supporters for more than 50 years and continue to do so today," said Robin Pruitt, an elder at Concord Street. "We love helping the underprivileged kids to get a good home and a good Christian education."

We want to thank the elders at Concord Street Church of Christ for their steadfast commitment to this ministry. We also thank all the members who donate individually, attend our events, and who have visited our campus. We appreciate you!

P.S. -- Vacationing in Orlando? The Concord Street Church of Christ is located at 626 East Concord Street in Orlando. For worship times and other information, visit their website at http://myconcordstreet.org/home .

New Staff Changes at MDCH

In our last e-news, we announced that Matt and Adriana Dietrich (pictured above) have joined us as new house parents. They are now on campus and overseeing the girls in Thompson House. This month, we have two more staff changes to announce. 

First, Dave Hogan is returning in early September to a full-time role as the Church Relations officer, a job he held from 2014-2018. Since 2018, he has continued to work in a part-time role in the Development Office. In his new full-time position, Dave will oversee benefit dinners and church visits, among other duties. He will only be with us in this new role for the 20222-2023 school year on an interim basis. We welcome him back.

Johnnie Coley, who has worked as a Social Worker for 19 years at MDCH, is leaving to pursue a new opportunity as Executive Director at Schults-Lewis Child & Family Services in Indiana. Among other accomplishments, Johnnie has played a large role in growing the Single-Parent Program at MDCH. We will greatly miss Johnnie on campus but wish her all the best in her new role.

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Know of a talented, Christian social worker? With Johnnie's departure, we are now recruiting for a new Social Worker at Mount Dora Children's Home. To learn more, visit our website.

Single Parents Heading to College

We are excited for these two participants in our Single-Parent Program who have recently been accepted into universities to pursue bachelor degrees. Join us in congratulating Rebecca Cox, left, who will continue upper-division studies online at Liberty University, and Sakia Duperme, right, who has been accepted into upper-division studies online at Florida International University. 

Helping our single parents pursue more education and training in order to secure higher-paying jobs later is one of our top objectives in the Single-Parent Program. We're proud of Rebecca and Sakia and wish them all the best!

Welcoming Our Newest Single-Parent Family

We want to give a heartfelt welcome to our newest single-parent family. Elissha Thompson and her daughter Sapphira (8^th grade) joined us this past month. This family comes to us from Orlando, Florida, where they attended the Southside Church of Christ.