Our Mission Endowment Team had given out free money for you and youth group and confirmation class to either: 1. Grow the funds, or 2. Use the funds to show God’s love to someone! “Money talks”
so here are some of the stories.

I used $25 to buy fleece to make lap blankets for the elderly and am organizing a gently used toy drive for Veterans to give gifts at Christmas.
We added $35 to the $25 and purchased 6 “Big Books” that will be given to inmates who express an interest in participating in AA meetings. In the county jails this book is allowed in their cells.

Last week I heard about a family in Milwaukee who lost everything in a house fire. The $25 went to them – please pray for them.

We decided to combine our money and offer up Thanksgiving Dinner. We found Linden Inn was serving a meal for $22.95. Among many others, Fox & Hounds offered a senior price of $18.95 and The Mineshaft at $14.99. We didn’t do any of those, — instead, with our combined money, we fed 27people a Thanksgiving Dinner as presented by donation request of the Salvation Army. We think Anita Beck would have been pleased and we are thankful to Anita for making this possible.

Located very close to church is a wonderful woman named Linda McIntosh Buyeske. She runs a non-profit animal sanctuary on Western Avenue in Cedarburg. As you can imagine, they do not get a whole lot of visitors during the winter months, so we purchased $25 worth of vegetables for the animals, and then also contributed an additional $25 so that she could purchase bales of hay for bedding.
I gave the $25 to a dear family friend who started a Cedarburg HS Scholarship Fund in memory of their son who died in the car accident on Western Ave. last June.

I wanted to do both options in supporting someone in need and growing the funds, so I created an online Fundraiser for The National Network to End Domestic Violence, with the $25 I received. The amount donated is now up to $135, which is so awesome!

Pastor used his $25 to buy an old car part on Ebay, and turned around and sold it for $50. Then used the $50 to buy 2 months of “Ruby’s Pantry” Food Distribution “Shares” (40 lbs of food) for one of our needy, unemployed moms.
The kids used the money to help out the community. They tried to make the most of the donation by shopping smarter and watching prices and in the end, I think they were very successful. Cost per Item = $0.74 – Gloves and Hats to the Church Tree, Toothbrushes, Deodorant, 7 Dish Soap to Sheboygan Food Bank.

We loaned our $25 to a woman in Vietnam to provide clean drinking water and improved sanitation facilities. Once this loan is “repaid,” we will continue to re-invest it with Kiva to fund another loan. It will be the gift that keeps on giving! Kiva is an international nonprofit, founded in 2005 and based in San Francisco, with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty. We celebrate and support people looking to create a better future for themselves, their families and their communities. By lending as little as $25 on Kiva, anyone can help a borrower start or grow a business, go to school, access clean energy or realize their potential. For some, it’s a matter of survival, for others it’s the fuel for a life-long ambition.

Our family choose to take the $25.00 from church to support elevate, a Washington county, Waukesha County and Sheboygan County community resource center for those struggling with addiction. Their mission is to empower individuals and enhance the community. Our family used the $25.00 from church and our own money to create recovery packs which included: Journal, crossword puzzles, cards, hat, mittens, socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, body soap, shampoo, conditioner and other personal care items. Tonight our family will attend a candle light vigil in remembrance of Jennifer and others who’s life was lost to addiction and to deliver the care packages.

We took the $25.00 and donated it to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. I matched the $25.00 donation and then doubled it so for our $100.00 donation we were able to feed 47 people.