Sharing the love and hope of Christ while empowering our neighbors with education, employment, and crisis support.

Dear Friends of The CARE Center,

We hope everyone is beating the heat this month and thoroughly enjoying their summer so far! We’ve had an exciting time here at The CARE Center this past month from our annual summer camps, to community programs, to planning this year’s upcoming events. Read along to stay updated on everything we have in store for the rest of the season!

First things first, we have some great news for our thrift store shoppers! On Wednesday, July 3rd, our thrift stores will be offering a special discount: “Spin the Wheel” to receive your deal! It’s the perfect time to get amazing discounts and support our mission. Please note that our Thrift Stores and Business Office will be closed the following day on July 4th, so our staff can enjoy the holiday.



Looking ahead, we have a fantastic event coming up on September 7th, "Don’t Fret, Just Prep"! This will be focused on employment opportunities and financial preparation for college. It will feature local employers and training sessions from 10 AM to 1 PM. See below for more information!

Additionally, don’t miss out on valuable insight from our many guests featured on the "Hand Up" Podcast. This podcast continues to provide in-depth insights into overcoming struggle and poverty as well as efforts to improve the community through our various ministries. We encourage you to tune in and share it with others to help us expand our reach. Listen below!



We deeply appreciate your continued support. Your involvement and generosity towards our ministries and programs make a tremendous difference in our community!

Blessings,

Andrea Bridges

Executive Director

The CARE Center

abridges@thecare-center.org

Resources & Opportunities

Our annual Summer Enrichment Camps were a huge success!!☀️🏖️ We want to send a huge thank you to everyone who participated, donated, and helped to make our programs the amazing events that they are.

We were fortunate to have an average of nearly 200 students attend our summer programs across three locations. Here's a recap of last month's camp events:

Our school system partners provided academic instruction in the mornings, and The Care Center provided enrichment in the afternoons. These activities fostered creativity, stimulated intellectual curiosity, and developed critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and social abilities.

The following enrichment activities were offered Mon-Thurs: Nutty Scientist of Rocket City, Maitland Conservatory, Par educational youth development, Martial Arts with Burwell's Martial Arts, North AL. soccer shots, Physical fitness with hot yoga of Huntsville, BritFit LLC. Music with Movement, Community helpers (Tren Harris-Firefighter academy), 4-H, Flag/baton, Cooking, Gardening/Plant science, STEM, and Vex Robotics. Huge thank you to all of our teachers and providers- We could not have done it without you all!!

On Fridays, we provided field trips to enrich the educational experience by offering students opportunities for exploration, discovery, and growth outside of the traditional classroom setting. These included trips to the Tennessee Aquarium, Birmingham Zoo, Spring Valley Beach, McWane Science Center, the Cooks Museum, and more.

We also had a wonderful end-of-summer celebration! All of our sites came to New Hope for a day of fun and community, including a Steve Trash show, waterslides, a Kona Ice truck, and water games/activities.

Thank you to all the churches, small groups, businesses, and individual donors who helped provide our students with a daily snack during programming as well!

Save the date for September 7th because we have an exciting new event for our local high school students! We’re creating a one-stop shop for both parents and students to learn about employment, interning, and financial preparation for college.

This day will be focused on empowerment and education. The event will provide excellent opportunities for local employers to meet the community and for you to learn about employment opportunities. Our various training sessions will also empower families to prepare for college alongside their students! 

“Don’t Fret Just Prep” will take place at The CARE Center’s Ministry Building (5414 Main Dr. in New Hope). Parents and students are encouraged to come and go as they please from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. 

Local employers wishing to set up a table or get involved, please contact Aneisha at aneisha.nolen@thecare-center.org or call our office at 256.723.2271

As you all know, our community suffered a great loss with the passing of our dear friend and volunteer, Gregg Berens. Gregg championed our annual fundraising golf tournament for several years to support our mission, each year raising more money than the previous year. Unfortunately, he left this earthly home on 2/28/24. We have decided to honor Gregg and his tremendous dedication to our mission by renaming this fundraising event the “Gregg Berens Memorial, I Golf Because I CARE Tournament.” Let’s make 2024 the best year yet, and make Gregg proud!

For more information about sponsoring this year’s tournament, please reach out to abridges@thecare-center.org. To learn more about the tournament details or sign up a team to play in this year’s tournament, register HERE.

Can’t wait to see you on the green!

Book Study on "When Helping Hurts"

Join us for an upcoming six-week book study based on the book When Helping Hurts. The study will be hosted at The CARE Center’s Ministry Building (5414 Main Dr. in New Hope) and will take place each Tuesday from 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. starting August 6th and ending September 10th. 

Click HERE to fill out a very short registration form and let us know if you plan to attend.

United Way

Needs Assessment

It is the mission of United Way of Madison County to honor the need to understand what is most critical in needs in our community.

If you are not familiar with our United Way needs assessment process in this community, you can visit our website to learn about it HERE! 

Please take this survey, and share it with your friends, colleagues, peers, neighbors – anyone you like. We want to hear every voice in the community.

*Last chance to participate is June 30th