Greetings! Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for following us and supporting us as we work toward Building Relationships & Filling Needs in Our Community.

This summer, as I got used to the idea of having 2 Affiliate Ministries, I sat down to map out our annual events, which happen almost monthly and realized that although we have The Bag Party in January which is a shared benefit with Love Overwhelming and Hearts For Homeless, we did not have dedicated events for Hearts For Homeless, yet we facilitate Furry Fundraiser Tea Party in February and Pet LOVE Drive in August for Angel Wings Rescue.

You might be thinking: Why is it important to have dedicated events for our ministries? 

Well it is simple, although we do seek donations, sponsors and volunteers all year long for Living Ministries and our Affiliate Ministries, events are important because it is a great reason to be saying the name, mission statement and praise of all three entities that Living Ministries represents. All year long we will accept and schedule pickup of donations that meet the needs of lives in Cowlitz County, but if we always talked about all of the ministries that make us who we are, you may never realize how different each entity is and how special each ministry is.

Coming back to the topic: The Birth of Survival Drive…

I had been encouraging Lynn Brown, Executive Director of Hearts For Homeless and Debra Lawson-Bean, Executive Director of Angel Wings Rescue to consider a few events to promote their ministries. I wanted to be prepared to help them, as needed. So while I was considering the next step of support with Hearts For Homeless,  I went to Debra and asked her if she had an event she was considering in October. When she told me that she was thinking of doing something in honor of Feral Cat Day, I was perplexed because I didn’t know how I could focus strongly on both events at the same time. When I told her that I really felt like we needed to have a drive in October for Hearts For Homeless because we were currently in the middle of Pet LOVE Drive 2013 and planning for our attendance at Cruise For the Cure in September and in November I need to be focused on Christmas Joy Telethon, she was so great! Debra said she would just do something small and intimate with the people she knew well and post a few things on Facebook so that the emphasis would stay on Hearts For Homeless.

Besides the immense capabilities of each member, this is my favorite part of our Living Ministries committee! We love our community and we love each other and we understand that egos have to be put down, whether we want to or not (we are all redeemed humans, but humans nevertheless) and support each other passionately.

So a name was chosen, art was created and Karen began beating the streets in search of places we could leave collection containers. Of course, we had to set a goal (Thank you Jamie for being a detail person) so we decided to borrow the numbers from Pet LOVE Drive 2013…

And Survival Drive was born!

Surviving on the streets takes emotional and physical strength, courage and true resourcefulness. People experiencing homelessness are survivors and I am so thankful for the love, honor and respect that the team at Hearts For Homeless has for these people that God created and loves. I also love the work that Angel Wings Rescue does with homeless animals. Each life is so amazing and reveals layers of our Father. In His image we were created and if we look for the good in people we will find another piece of Him.

I thank God for blessing me with the ability to help support His ministries.

I wanted to let you know that Living Ministries prays for people every day. If you would like prayer please Contact Us. You may be as elusive or detailed as you like. We will not share personal information beyond our committee members and trusted prayer team members.

Thank you for helping.

Sincerely,

Summer
Living Ministries Executive Director

They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.
Galatians 2:10