Meet Samantha! Samantha is a compassionate, highly motivated, energetic, self-starting, gung-ho student from Stuart Middle School. A few months ago, Samantha and her father came to volunteer orientation at Wayside Christian Mission. During orientation, she told of her interest in working with young children. Normally, college students are referred as volunteers for the Resilient Families Program led by Dr. Lora Haynes of the University of Louisville, but Samantha impressed everyone with her dedication and maturity. As such, she became the youngest volunteer to serve in this program. By the way, Dr. Haynes speaks highly of her twelve year old protégé! She’s a worker!
Samantha wanted to do more, so she had been collecting toilet paper for the mission. Toilet paper? With over six hundred women, men, and children in our care, we go through a lot of toilet paper! Samantha understands that money we do not have to spend on toilet paper can be used to fund our many educational and vocational programs! Samantha has made two drop-offs thus far with a promise that more toilet paper is on the way. Samantha is a twelve year old middle school student. Many of us are three, four, five, or six times her age, yet we cannot seem to find time for helping the homeless. Maybe we could all learn a lot about compassion and dedication from this amazing kid. Thanks, Samantha, for caring! You’re the best!
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Each Christmas season, we receive gifts of food, warm winter clothing, toys, toiletries, and money from individuals, churches, and businesses around Louisville. For all this, we are grateful, for by God’s grace and the generosity of these faithful friends, the poorest among us will have food, clothing, and gifts this Christmas!
Our new friends from StageOne Family Theatre gave our kids a special gift, too—the gift of theater! StageOne Family Theatre is one of the nation’s leading theatres for young audiences and families. Proud to be Louisville Metro’s major gateway to the Arts, they introduce children to the arts at an early age, and present top-quality, professional and educational theatrical experiences as they move through adolescence and adulthood. Thanks to Lucas Adams and StageOne Family Theater, our kids and their moms were invited to a performance of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The top-notch acting and clever dialogue captures the true essence of Christmas in a delightfully funny way. Our kids loved the performance! So did the moms! This Christmas, our kids will receive food, toys, and warm winter clothing—but they will also have the fond memories of seeing their first live stage performance! Thanks to StageOne Family Theatre, Christmas will be a bit more special this year! Three cheers for our good friends Betty Fox and Valerie Daugherty from Dress for Success who delivered a number of parcels containing warm winter clothing articles to Wayside Christian Mission. The HUGS donation drive (HUGS being an acronym for hats, umbrellas, gloves, socks or scarves) is just one of many ways that Betty, Valerie, and our local Dress for Success branch stands with Wayside Christian Mission.
Dress for Success is a faith-based organization that provides appropriate business attire for women seeking employment as well as assistance for women who need suitable clothing after being hired. Besides clothing, Betty and Valerie teach vocational classes and provide counseling for women who need advice with resumes and assistance in finding employment. Valerie and Betty have taught a number of classes for the women in our recovery program and have made themselves readily available to our ladies as they prepare to transition back into the community. We are truly grateful to our friends from Dress for Success. This organization helps women through all phases of employment so that they can contribute to the betterment of our community. Re-Bath is in the business of upscale bathroom remodeling, but owner David Duke and Customer Service Advisor Katie Remines wanted to share the blessings of the Christmas season with those less fortunate. The answer, so it seemed, was a donation drive. From their showroom on Breckenridge Lane, customers were urged to drop off toys, winter clothing articles, canned goods, and toiletries for the benefit of Wayside Christian Mission. To get out the word, radio personality Jim Coyle from 970 WGTK broadcasted live from Re-Bath’s showroom. During the broadcast, listeners came by with more donations to bless the over six hundred homeless women, men, and children in Wayside Christian Mission’s care. The mission’s Chaplain Mike and even Santa Claus himself showed up for the fun. You might say Re-Bath re-minded us to re-joice knowing it is better to give than to re-ceive. Many thanks to our new friends David Duke and Katie Remines!
Open to boys from the first through fifth grades, Cub Scouts learn about our community, our nation, and our world through planned activities and adventures. A troop may learn about law enforcement by visiting a police station. A week later, the troop may discover how to prepare a meal over a campfire. Since 1910, boys have learned character building skills through Scouting. Among the twelve core values of scouting is compassion. Recently Cub Scout Leader Jeffrey Nau's Pack 930 prepared forty sack lunches that were delivered to Wayside Christian Mission. Sack lunches consisting of sandwiches, fruit, chips, and bottled water are often distributed to homeless people through Samaritan Patrol. Sack lunches are also given to our homeless clients who have daytime jobs. They can leave the mission for work and be assured of having a noonday meal. This project benefited our homeless neighbors while giving these young boys an opportunity to put one of their twelve core values into action. And judging by the photos, these guys had a lot of fun, too! Jeffrey Nau added, “I hope the lunches were able to be given in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to those in need.” Many thanks to these amazing Cub Scouts! Their compassion is appreciated!
In many corrupt and impoverished nations, law enforcement officials are seen as enemies of the people. Thankfully, we live in a land where law enforcement exists to serve the people. Last year, 111 U.S. law enforcement officials died in the line of duty. From our local police to national law enforcement agencies, Americans owe a debt of gratitude to those who place their lives on the line for our safety and well-being.
Recently, Howard Marshall, Special Agent in Charge and Minerva Virola, Community Outreach and Public Affairs Specialist, both with the FBI’s Louisville office and Jim Clark, U.S. Marshal and Craig Smith, Deputy U.S. Marshal of the Western District delivered a quantity of warm winter clothing to Wayside Christian Mission. Just in time for the unseasonably cold weather, these articles of clothing will be distributed to those in need. Some of the clothing will be delivered to homeless camps and some will be given to the women, men, and children in our care. WAVE TV was on hand as Nina Moseley received the boxes of warm winter clothing in the lobby of Hotel Louisville. During their visit, we received another special guest—Chief Steve Conrad of the Louisville Metro Police Department. Ranked among the safest major cities in the United States, Chief Steve Conrad began his career as a patrol officer with the former Louisville Division of Police (LPD) in 1980. He worked his way through the ranks, rising to Assistant Chief in the LPD and later an Assistant Chief in the newly merged Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD). As a Lieutenant Colonel with the LMPD, Conrad was Commander of the Administrative Bureau. Chief Conrad left the LMPD in 2005 to become Chief of the Glendale (AZ) Police Department. Chief Conrad returned to his hometown as Chief of Police on March 19, 2012. The U.S. Marshals Service is the nation’s oldest and most versatile federal law enforcement agency. Federal marshals have served the country since 1789, often in unseen but critical ways. The Marshals Service occupies a uniquely central position in the federal justice system. It is the enforcement arm of the federal courts, involved in virtually every federal law enforcement initiative. Presidentially appointed U.S. marshals direct the activities of 94 districts—one for each federal judicial district. Approximately 3,829 deputy U.S. marshals and criminal investigators form the backbone of the agency. The duties of the U.S. Marshals Service include protecting the federal judiciary, apprehending federal fugitives, managing and selling seized assets acquired by criminals through illegal activities, housing and transporting federal prisoners and operating the Witness Security Program. The agency’s headquarters is just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. As an intelligence-driven and a threat-focused national security organization with both intelligence and law enforcement responsibilities, the mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners. The FBI works literally around the globe. Along with their Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the FBI has 56 field offices located in major cities throughout the U.S., approximately 380 smaller offices called resident agencies in cities and towns across the nation, and more than 60 international offices called “legal attachés” in U.S. embassies worldwide. We are truly grateful to the brave law enforcement officials who serve and protect. |
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