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Throughout the year, members and friends of Grace give special, "above and beyond" donations to the Discretionary Fund with the intention that I, with the help of others, will direct these dollars to needs in the community as they arise.
Over the past 18 months, Sabena has become a key partner for me in this work. Because she has such a heart for helping those in our community, she has endeavored to communicate and coordinate with other congregations and organizations helping people in times of need. This has been a tremendous help to me, as one of the things I am constantly short on is time. The extra hours to vet requests and coordinate with community partners is crucial to ensure we're focused on helping people with their greatest needs.
It occurred to me that many might not know about all the good that gifts to the discretionary fund provide. Here are a few highlights from the last few months:
1.) We worked with several other congregations and organizations to help a young man catch up on back rent that occurred when this recent graduate was between jobs. He was so grateful and has followed up a few times to thank us.
2.) Through Pastor Lauren Carlson in Morganton, we learned of a situation where a student needed help paying the cost associated with remaining in their dorm during Christmas. We were able to cover that amount to ensure the student was not left homeless for three weeks.
3.) Around Thanksgiving I spoke with the social worker at Hardin Park, and she shared how difficult it is for some families when children are home during breaks. We were able to purchase $500 worth of food cards, in small denominations, enabling the social worker to discreetly put them in backpacks.
4.) In October we received a larger-than-normal donation to the discretionary fund. In this case, the donor made themself known to me, and together we talked about what good could be done. We decided to participate in the school Christmas gift project. So we had each staff member (and some significant others) choose one child for whom they would shop. We went to Walmart together and just had the best time roaming the aisles and purchasing clothing and gifts for 12 children in our community!
5.) Two weeks ago we worked with a coalition of donors, coordinated by Western Youth Network, to help a family cover a portion of the cost of replacing their broken septic system (unusable for four months!). Without this support, the family would have had to find another place to live!
6.) Just this week, we worked with Watauga Opportunities to help an individual with a disability and on a fixed income cover a particularly high power bill.
This is just a small sample of how these funds are used. I give thanks to those who support this work through their "above and beyond" gifts to the Discretionary Fund. Because of your gifts and Sabena’s excellent work, Grace continues to be a trusted partner in helping to directly respond to the needs in our community.
Thank you!
Pastor Steve
P.S. This last week there was a phishing scam where an email account, very similar to mine, was sending emails to people asking people to financially support a need in the community through the purchase of gift cards. As you can see from above, the way that we help people in the community is through the official channel of the Pastor's Discretionary Fund. To be sure, I will never email you and ask you to purchase a gift card. This is an unfortunate scam that preys on the generosity and compassion in church communities.
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