Jacksonville:

Remembering the Poor

“Hope is necessary in every condition. The miseries of poverty, sickness and captivity would, without this comfort, be insupportable.”
~ Samuel Johnson

We need hope in any and every situation in our lives, especially when we carry the crushing load of poverty and its attendant problems. This is why God placed on the hearts of the Elders, Evangelists and Ministry Leaders of the Jacksonville Church of Christ to propose a day of remembering the poor. Sunday, April 26, 2009 has been set aside as ‘Remember the Poor’ Day. It will be a day Christians will be called to follow the example of Christ’s heart for the poor and to open our eyes to the ever increasing poverty around us and around the world – particularly in light of the current worldwide economic recession.

“He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord and he will reward him for what he has done”-Proverbs 19:17 NIV

The Jacksonville Church of Christ through its long-standing partnership with HOPE worldwide, is dedicated to meeting the needs of the poor and needy within this community. This partnership has allowed HOPE worldwide Jacksonville to provide services to the underprivileged and downtrodden in the area for over 15 years.

Throughout the year HOPE worldwide, runs programs for ‘at-risk’ youth, families in need and sponsors events, providing many opportunities for the dedicated volunteers of the Jacksonville Church of Christ and other community volunteers to emulate Jesus’ life and ministry to the poor.

• Remember The Poor – Personal Bible Studies
• Remember The Poor 2009 – Material for Kingdom Kids (open downloaded files with Adobe Acrobat)
• More resources for Remember The Poor 2009

Highlights of 2008-2009 Season of Service:

• Season of Service – The 2008 season began with a food drive specifically for recent refugee families in October and November. In December, we partnered with the Children’s Christmas Party of Jacksonville, for a Holiday Toy Drive and Christmas Eve Toy distribution as well as a Senior Santa Party at the Taylor Home. The Season of Service ended with the Martin Luther King Day of Service in January 2009.
• Martin Luther King Day of Service – HOPE worldwide in partnership with the American Red Cross, hosted MLK Day service events at the St. Clair Evans Academy on the northside. Over 200 volunteers from HOPE worldwide and the American Red Cross joined together to distribute fire safety information to residents of the Moncrief area neighborhoods. This second annual community service program was aimed at providing residents with vital information to help save lives and strengthen their communities. HOPE worldwide volunteers also participated with Hands On Jacksonville who held a Peace Tiles program for children who painted and decorated their own peace tile.  These were put on display at several venues around Jacksonville. In all, over 3,000 people were served through the generosity of the volunteers.
• Blood Drives - Through cooperation with the Blood Alliance and The American Red Cross there are five scheduled blood drives which average 100 total pints per year
• Lap Robes: These are quilts that are assembled by a group each third Saturday of the month and distributed to the elderly and young mothers.

Our Youth Education Programs:

• Saturday Academy – providing a safe haven on Saturdays, where the children feel nurtured, have fun and learn in a positive environment. Located at the Magic Johnson Center at Hilltop Village Apartments over 40 students are served annually.  This program is supported through a grant from the Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation.
• Back-to-School Drive – Every August school supplies are presented to students of the Saturday Academy.

Remember the Poor this year – donate to HOPE worldwide and bring hope to the sick and suffering of the world.

• Learn more on Hope Worldwide’s page
• Donate to Hope Worldwide

The Blood Alliance is returning as a part of our HOPE worldwide Blood Drives beginning May 10th. Your donation stays local and we will continue with our long standing account at the Blood Alliance. We appreciate your support in donating the gift of life.

More to follow…

We just completed distribution of $3267.00 from the Hope Fund to 18 households to benefit 43 individuals. The Hope fund is not directly a part of HOPE worldwide but we have been selected by Hands on Jacksonville and the Florida Times Union as one group to distribute funds that are raised during the holidays. We are grateful to help in this way.

GATE River Run and Times Union Walk for Charity was a great success. With over 15,000 runners and walkers HOPE worldwide benefits from monies raised through the 5k Walk for Charity. This is one of our primary sources of fundraising in the community. Thank you to all those who participated in the walk and those who volunteered to serve during the week.

Saturday Academy “Team Works” begins with an exciting group of students. Paul Trimble, numerous veteran and new volunteers had a great time with the children @ the Magic Johnson Center. We are funded this year primarily through a grant by the Jaguars Foundation. The Academy continues through April 18th. Sign-up is at www.handsonjacksonville.org. Come and have great time.

Sunday, April 26th declared a “National Day of HOPE, a time to remember the poor”. A specal service is being planned for this day @ the Jacksonville Church of Christ. It’s a time to stir our hearts and to remember the poor.

To learn more, visit our HOPE Worldwide page.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in the HOPE worldwide MLK Day of Service. Locally, over 275 volunteers participated with HOPE worldwide, Hands On Jacksonville, & the American Red Cross. In Jacksonville, 1334 households were reached with 269 conversations held. Nationally, there were 100 HOPE worldwide sites and 9,000 volunteers giving 34,000 hours of service with 156,000 people served. With the Red Cross we reached 71,000 homes, distributed 82,000 door hangers and had 11,000 conversations on Fire Safety & Prevention. Our efforts on this national day of service were recognized as one of the top five by President Obama’s Service Nation Imitative out of 149 programs nationwide. Congratulations!!!