Archive for September 2008 | Monthly archive page
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Second Shipment of Relief Sent to Houston in Response to Ike
BUENA PARK, Calif. (September 23, 2008)- Today, Giving Children Hope sent out their second of shipment of aid in partnership with Union Rescue Mission, to the Star of Hope Rescue Mission in Houston, TX in response to the damage Hurricane Ike left behind.
Giving Children Hope has already sent one container of relief to the Lindale Assembly of God Church in Houston, but the area is in desperate need of more food, water and relief supplies.
Giving Children Hope is still accepting monetary donations to procure and deliver necessary items to the Gulf Coast region.
Giving Children Hope is a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty (domestically and abroad) through disaster relief, health and community development, vocational training and advocacy. For more information, visit www.gchope.org.
Media Contact:
Harmony Trevino
Giving Children Hope
Communications Coordinator
Ph: 714-523-4454 x. 112
htrevino@godiad.org
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One of the things I love about working at a faith-based non-profit is that we can work with all different churches, and they can work together with us and with one another.
On Saturday we had a big work day at our facility. **Four different churches came together to serve us and others. They met new people as they served alongside one another.** We had people sorting medical supplies to be shipped to Dominican Republic and Houston, people painting some rooms under construction and people doing yard work on our campus. Wow, what a day!
And as we gear up for our big Gala event on October 10th, we hope all kinds of people from the community, from different churches, and different service groups will attend and network with one another around a cause. We’re excited to have our amazing partners from Houston be the featured guest speakers at our event. If we had tried to plan the program we couldn’t have planned to have them speak right after such amazing events as what they have done in Hurricane Ike. It’s a good thing God was in charge of the program. So we are hopeful for a full room with lots of great people to have fun and find new ways to collaborate together.
If you have a church or service group that would like to collaborate, please call our office. And if you haven’t made your reservations for Voyage of Hope, please register on-line or call our office to book your seat today!
On Saturday, September 20, groups from Rock Harbor Church, Christ Community Church in Buena Park, Yorba Linda Friends Church, First Congregational Church, and the Yorba Linda Rotary helped clean GCH’s home by helping with maintenance around the building.
Volunteers helped to paint our walls, clean our offices, perform landscaping and maintenance on the facility, and sort medical supplies, while eating bagels, croissants and muffins. We also had electricians volunteer to fix all of the “electrical issues.”
Rock Harbor volunteers were responding to the tragedies of Hurricane Ike by sorting medical supplies. Christ Community Church youth came wanting to help in any areas we needed. They also attended Serve Day ’08 on July 26.
The day concluded with pizza and a group picture.
Thank you, Rock Harbor, Christ Community, Yorba Linda Friends, First Congregational and Yorba Linda Rotary! The place looks great!
Now that’s the power of YOU!
Contact our volunteer coordinator at 714-523-4454 x. 113 to see how you can volunteer at our facilities and find out more information on our next Service Saturday.
Governor of Michoacan, Mexico’s Representatives to Visit Giving Children Hope in Time for Serve Day
2008
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Governor of Michoacan, Mexico’s Representatives to Visit Giving Children Hope in Time for Serve Day
BUENA PARK, Calif. (September 19, 2008)- Tomorrow, Governor of Michoacan, Mexico’s representatives will be visiting Giving Children Hope at 8332 Commonwealth Ave. Buena Park 90621 just in time for Saturday Serve Day which will take place from 8a.m. to noon.
The representatives will see 50 volunteers in action, helping sort medical supplies to send around the world.
Giving Children Hope is a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty (domestically and abroad) through disaster relief, health and community development, vocational training and advocacy. We are located at 8332 Commonwealth Ave. Buena Park 90621. For more information, visit www.gchope.org.
Media Contact:
Harmony Trevino
Giving Children Hope
Communications Coordinator
Ph: 714-523-4454 x. 112
htrevino@godiad.org
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I’m always humbled by how product that leaves our facility is used. And I’m always humbled by the hard work of our partners on the other end. __Every shipment has a story. When you do large and small shipments, you become an organization filled with stories__. More than you could ever tell.
This week was no different.
I have to admit though; I’m pretty stressed right now. We have a lot of things going on in our offices. We work on development projects, but re-focus in times of relief. This week when Ike hit, I admit, I thought, “I just can’t handle another disaster.” Here I am, at my office in Orange County, safe and sound, and I’M thinking, “God, there is just too much going on to deal with this!”
Truth be told, events are stressful. We have our big event in just 3 weeks now, October 10th. And Randy and Jana from Houston are the scheduled guest speakers. Here I am worrying about our event for weeks with logistics and promotions. I haven’t been able to focus enough on promotions because of all of the activities. Disasters take away from event promotion time as you focus on press releases, media, volunteer efforts, and everything else that goes along with raising funds to cover the costs of relief that you immediately respond to.
Today God flattened me. Who I am to be worrying about an event that God is in charge of? How could I be so concerned over the details of linens while doing the Lord’s work in the face of the real needs in front of me? It’s the Mary and Martha story. Finding the balance between the two isn’t always easy. You need both, my heart is more Mary, but my actions and nature are more Martha. This week the Martha in me had really taken over.
So when I received Jana and Randy’s email today I was struck by Jana’s comment that said, “O, I forgot, the Lord directs your steps”. Wow, that’s right! How could I have forgotten! This is God’s event and He is absolutely going to bring the right people to it and he will use me in spite of myself!
Don’t worry, I’ll keep promoting the event; it’s going to be wonderful! And with guest speakers like these, how could it not! But I’m also going to do a better job at focusing on what God would have me do instead of focusing on all of the things yet to be done. With all of the distractions I was humbled that God would use me in a tiny way to minister to others in spite of my wrong attitude.
Now I must share with you the email I received. Jana reminded me today of why I choose to do what I do:
h4. J, Just in the nick of time!!! The truck came and I did the happy dance! Every pallet contained some kind of answer to prayer. We are so overwhelmed with gratitude for the thoughtfulness of what you sent, Beans, spaghetti, cake mixes, stuffing, cans of vegetables, etc…….I can do so much with these presents. The shampoo was so needed as were the sanitary products and shoes. We had NO blankets….just sheets and not enough of them. And pillows!!!!! How did you know? O, I forgot, the Lord directs your steps. For the first time in days, I feel a huge relief from the constant burden of producing meals from nothing. Tomorrow I will go thru the boxes and make gift boxes for each shelter resident and then we will begin the process of distributing some of the shipment to our neighbors who are still without power. We will probably take some to a couple of other local shelters if they actually get up and running. Right now, Red Cross tells us we are the only church shelter in the city. Surely more will come when they get power. Houston has taken a very hard hit, but we have much to be grateful for. We are not destroyed, just bruised and battered. We are blessed to have people like GIVING CHILDREN HOPE and all of your awesome partners to turn to in our time of crisis. You are truly hands of God. Thank you, from the depth of our hearts. With Sincere Gratitude, Randy and Jana Meeks
Press Release
For Immediate Release
Giving Children Hope is Supplying the Only Relief Shelter in Houston After Hurricane Ike
BUENA PARK, Calif. (September 17, 2008)- Giving Children Hope is supplying the only open shelter in Houston, TX that is providing relief to locals that have been affected by Hurricane Ike.
Giving Children Hope has already sent one container of relief to Houston, but the shelter (Lindale Assembly of God Church) is in desperate need of more food, water and relief supplies.
The people the shelter are serving consists of 60% children and is the only shelter servicing special needs children. The shelter has also set up a special triage room for those who are coming from VA Hospital who need medical attention.
Monetary donations are currently being accepted at www.gchope.org to procure disaster relief items. All donations can be sent to 8332 Commonwealth Ave. Buena Park, CA 90621
Giving Children Hope is a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty (domestically and abroad) through disaster relief, health and community development, vocational training and advocacy. For more information, visit www.gchope.org.
Media Contact:
Harmony Trevino
Giving Children Hope
Communications Coordinator
Ph: 714-523-4454 x. 112
htrevino@godiad.org
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Working in my field, often you have to switch gears between relief and development. This summer we’ve had to switch more often then I’d like.
Relief work means that you have to quickly adapt and rearrange your schedule to respond to the immediate need. Today we switched gears to Houston. Randy and Jana Meeks are pastors at Lindale Assembly God Church in Houston and have been our partners for over 3 years now distributing aid to victims of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Jana and I have had many conversations on the phone over the months. As a matter of fact, they are flying out soon to be the guest speakers at our Voyage of Hope event on October 10th. I have been really looking forward to meeting Jana. I don’t think you’ll find anyone with a bigger heart. They have been amazing distribution partners!
Today Jana and I spoke for the first time since Ike hit. While she had hope, she sounded tired. But the thing about Jana is she never complained. She said God won’t give her more than she can handle and she loves these people so much she looks forward to caring for them.
My heart breaks so often talking to our partners knowing the hard work they have in the field. Jana is an amazing leader. She and the entire staff at Lindale are giving 24/7 right now as they minister to people who have lost everything and have no where else to turn. **The city is in desperate need. They are one of only 4 shelters currently open in Houston.**
Sometimes devastation like this is so big it’s paralyzing. Fortunately there are things we can physically do to assist Randy and Jana. This afternoon the first truck of aid rolled from our facility providing them the items they need to care for the displaced. That truck will arrive on Wednesday. In this way we are providing hope to Jana and Randy. They can focus on ministering to the people knowing that food, water and hygiene items are on their way.
I realize that to work at an organization like Giving Children Hope it is going to require many tears. I don’t ever want to be so used to dealing with disasters that I am calloused and do not feel emotion at such loss. However, instead of focusing on the devastation, I will continue to focus on giving hope. Today I prayed on the phone with Jana, so often there aren’t many words that could be said in these situations and the most I can do is to simply turn to Jesus. Yet I know that this is truly the most powerful thing we can do.
So today, with all that goes on in our office anyways, we switched gears into relief mode. And it isn’t just sending aid to Houston; it’s sending aid to our friends and neighbors Randy and Jana. We’re trusting God for all that is ahead and we lift up Randy, Jana, Houston and the entire region as it begins to move on the slow road to recovery.
Meet Jeff White, our newest member of Giving Children Hope’s Board of Directors who is going above and beyond to give back.
Jeff is actively involved with the Yorba Linda Sunrise Rotary Club, and has completed several mission trips. He recently partnered with GCH to send hygiene kits and other supplies to Door of Faith Orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico in partnership with the Yorba Linda Rotary. He and his family often help out by volunteering at GCH’s distribution center.
Jeff is also the owner of Ovene Winery. He has graciously offered to contribute his award-winning wine to GCH’s upcoming gala, Voyage of Hope.
Thank you, Jeff!
Now that’s the Power of YOU!
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HURRICANE IKE RELIEF
BUENA PARK, Calif. (September 15, 2008)- Giving Children Hope is sending a truck of disaster relief this morning to partners at the Lindale Assembly of God in Houston, TX in response to Hurricane Ike’s aftermath.
Disaster relief items will go to those displaced by Hurricane Ike.
Monetary donations are currently being accepted at www.gchope.org to procure and expedite disaster relief items. All donations can be sent to 8332 Commonwealth Ave. Buena Park, CA 90621
Giving Children Hope is a faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to alleviating poverty (domestically and abroad) through disaster relief, health and community development, vocational training and advocacy. For more information, visit www.gchope.org.
Media Contact:
Harmony Trevino
Giving Children Hope
Communications Coordinator
Ph: 714-523-4454 x. 112
htrevino@godiad.org
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Catalyst Community, a singles ministry of “Rose Drive Friends Church”:http://www.rdf.org/, is partnering with “Salon Diego of Yorba Linda”:http://www.myspace.com/salon_diego to host a Cut-A-Thon Fundraiser to benefit Giving Children Hope’s We’ve Got Your Back program.
Kathy Ramos of “Rose Drive Friends Church”:http://www.rdf.org/ and Diego Ortega of “Salon Diego”:http://www.myspace.com/salon_diego wanted to make a difference in children’s lives and decided to throw a fundraiser to benefit children. When Kathy was introduced to Giving Children Hope, she knew this was the organization she wanted the proceeds to go to. Their goal is to raise more than $5,000.
The event will be held on Sunday, Sept. 14 from 10:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. in front of Salon Diego. The festivities will include $15 hair cuts by Salon Diego as well as food, live entertainment, activities and a silent auction.
All proceeds from the event will go to We’ve Got Your Back, Giving Children Hope’s nutrition program that helps feed homeless children on the weekends during the school year.
Salon Diego is located at 17499 Imperial Hwy.,Yorba Linda, CA 92886 (714-223-2055).
Thank you Kathy Ramos and Diego Ortega!
Now that’s the Power of YOU!
