Non-Profits, Festivals, and a Changing Generation in Day by Day

The United Way presentation turned out to be more question and answers. They were very nice and took notes. I was able to tie our interest to theirs by honing in on some of their focus. For instance, among other things, they focus on children age 0 to 9, so I pointed out that while OUR focus is on young adults age 18-35, most of them have small children. As we strengthen them, they become stronger parents, which leads to stronger families. Man, they started scribbling notes like MAD! There will be more rounds of meetings, but the first one went well.

Goodwill may be interested in us, as well. Oh, and I submitted our profile for the matching grant fund drive next fall. Other foundations use the same profile when seeking out potential recipients, so it benefits us in multiple ways. I had until March 1st to complete it. I wanted it done in 2 weeks. It took me 3 weeks. Not too shabby!

The Festival was a BIG hit! My only complaint is that it was really spread out (our church property is 80 beautiful “old south” acres big) and I never got to see everything. Rain was also a factor but more on that in a sec. Anyway, the Native American presentation, meditation walk, yoga, and other New Age stuff was to the left, vendors, food, and social awareness (where my non-profit was) to the right. Music was on the stage outside, speakers were in the church’s main lobby. Kids stuff was in the back fenced in area that the school uses for PE. The teens had their thing going by their activity center.

Because it was so spread out, it didn’t feel crowded. The parking lot was full at noon, but a torrential rain sent a lot of people packing. Hopefully, the weather will be kinder next year. The rain also meant less foot traffic but we did raise a few dollars and got a few struggling young adults’ attention, so I’d say, given the circumstances, it went well.

One funny guy came to protest. When the first person offered him water, he drew himself up and said unless it was holy water, he would not take it and he knew if it came from us it wasn’t holy, so we could just repent.

When the second person offered him water, he snarled for them not to heap ashes upon his head.

Then the torrential rains came. I don’t know ‘bout you, but I think maybe God REALLY wanted him to drink. Just sayin’…

About that rain. I was under a tent, sitting on a plastic and metal chair when the lightning started, but I did not feel nervous. I felt very serene, as if nothing could touch me. It had been a good morning. The thunder rolled in sheets of rain. The lightning was cracking in the distance but we did have two big cracks that were close, but it didn’t last long and I didn’t want to dash for the church lobby because I knew I’d be soaked to the skin and then subjected to air conditioning. I didn’t care about my hair…it was already frizzed from the rain…but knew I’d be a drowned rat. Normally, I’d go inside but I felt strangely reassured, that God was saying not to worry, so I sat back and looked at nature’s beauty and kept talking to the others to keep them calm. A few made the dash, two or three remained.

Oh! Almost forgot! Before the rain, one of our clients came to see me. We’d sent him off to rehab and he’s doing so well it makes my heart sing. He asked me to come to his meeting with Pastor B tomorrow, so on-going guidance is going well. He and I have become buddies of a sort. Our group feels that this is a starfish that’s going to make it.

I recognize that I am hardly a drug rehab expert nor do I want this fund to become another drug rehab program, but most of our clients have drug use in their past. This kid is our first current user (he was clean 1 month before rehab as required, and 3 months since then, plus the week he’s been home) and I hope we don’t have many because it wears me out emotionally. But I think this one is going to make it. I still believe a good portion of drug use is a direct result of hopelessness. If we can restore hope with a temporary financial help, budget advice through an established survey, and on-going mentoring, maybe we can prevent destructive behavior BEFORE it happens. That’s my goal. Impossible to measure, but worth the effort.

Life Group went well. We’re studying Ruth, so its easy, which we needed after several months of Revelation. I made eclairs for the dessert.

I decided to sell most of the things that have been handed down through the family. My sons only want a few things: some of the artwork, our record collection, some jewelry. They want NONE of the sterling silver, which is the hardest for me. It’s come through my side of the family. For generations, we have polished it to gleaming perfection and now THEY DON’T WANT IT. They are not going to have children, so both my and my husband’s bloodline stops here, which also took us by surprise.

Much of it has value, so if I had time and inclination, I could do well on ebay, but nothing interests me less. I held ONE yard sale in my life and swore I’d never do it again. All those people pawing through my stuff, and then trying to bargain down on ridiculously low pricing (I did not want to bring it back in the house), well, it just ticked me off. So I’m thinking of asking a friend who cleans for me and needs extra $ if she’ll deal with it all on a commission basis. I know there are companies who can do it, but I’d rather give the profit to a friend who needs it. It won’t be hard on her physically and she won’t mind boxing and mailing (which makes me antsy).

So that’s the week in review in my life. There are always lots of little observations and I think, “Oh, I should tell that story on prosebox” but I don’t have much spare time these days to tell you about insurance frustrations or our latest project or my brother’s health (not lung cancer but possibly heart issues). I’m doing pretty well with weekly updates and keeping up on notes, though! Wishing you all a happy week!