Upcoming opportunities at Hope Chest

On Saturday, June 27th, we will be hosting a workday to sort and properly inventory our storage so that we can quickly and efficiently meet the needs of the people that God brings our way.

This workday will run from 10 am to 1 pm

If you would like to serve this day, please email Cissa and let us know!

____________________________________________________________

The very next day, Sunday, June 28th, we would love to have you come out and enjoy a burger at Irma’s Burger Shack in support of Hope Chest OKC.  Just tell your server that you are there to support Hope Chest,  and then Irma’s will donate 10% of your ticket back to us.

This fundraiser is taking place at the Plaza Court location: 1120 Classen Drive, Oklahoma City, OK

This weekend we began to fill a home for a woman who will be moving into her new apartment with her two children.  We still have to finish the living room and add a few more touches to the bedrooms, but we accomplished quite a bit for the small number of volunteers who were there to help.  Check out a few of the pictures we got…

before picture of the kitchen

finished kitchen

filled cabinets

more filled cabinets

before bedroom

finished bedroom

Any one of any age can help with projects like these.  On this particular home we had a 4 and 6 year old who helped.  Consider joining us in this capacity.  If we teach our children to serve when they are young it will become a part of who they  are.

If this is something you would like to help us with, please contact Cissa and let us know!

Amy cleaning the kitchen

Cissa filling the kitchen cabinets

Caleb and Draden making the bed

This past weekend we were able to deliver 3 beds and lots of other household items to families living down at the Tapestry Project.  So many amazing things happened down in that neighborhood this weekend.  To read all about it, check out www.thetapestryproject.org

Our next big event is something that we need a lot of help with…

One of the families that Hope Chest OKC has been able to help down at The Tapestry Project has made the decision to get married. We are thrilled to participate in their union because we believe that God is stirring their hearts and changing their family dynamics! They have four precious children and this couple is already leading so many people in the community.  They are great blessings, and we are all honored to call them friends!

Financially they cannot afford a wedding but have saved up enough money for a marriage license. SOOOO, Here is where we could use your help:

Specific Needs:

~ A hoop skirt to go under the wedding dress

~ Flowers (especially bouquets/boutonnieres for the wedding party)

~ The church has a piano but we need someone to perform the Wedding March/Recessional at the ceremony (6pm, Monday, June 29^th)

~ Someone to do hair/makeup for the bride and 3 bridesmaids

~ We have punch and a cake, but calls are being made to some of the local culinary schools, and ask if they might be willing to donate food for the reception. Does anyone have a contact? Or know of some place that might be interested?

~ Any other aspects, especially decorations, both for the ceremony (Garlands? Candles? Birdseed for afterward? Etc…) and the reception. (Perhaps your church has tablecloths or a punchbowl we could borrow?)

please contact Rebecca Lange at 412.5186  if you are available to help and for details on the date and time.

Together we can help create a wonderful memory for this family that they can cherish for a lifetime!  And it is yet another way to show Christ’s love to the families that we are so blessed to get to help!

I am so excited about what is being done through the people of Oklahoma City!

In the last two weeks we have had 3 beds, 1 crib, and 5 sofas donated.  This, along with all the toys and clothes and kitchen ware is fantastic!  All of these items are going either directly back out to the needy of OKC, or are only being stored for a very short time while we wait for the families to get into a home for us to furnish.

We are overjoyed that the idea to give in this way is really beginning to take root throughout our community.  Though we are always happy to take your donations, specific items that we are in need of are:

We are also in need of volunteers to help with organizing and other behind the scenes work.  If this is something that you would like to help us with, please contact Cissa.

Before I sign off I want to share a story with you.
I got a call from a woman yesterday who was moving into the apartments down at The Tapestry Project who needed pretty much everything.  Her family had been staying at the City Rescue Mission, so all they had were a few bags of clothes.  While I am preparing to meet the family down at their new apartment to deliver a couple of beds and kitchen and bathroom items I get a call from one of the other moms who lives down there.  My sister-in-law, Amy, and I are helping her prepare to marry the man she is living with and she wanted to run through some stuff with me.  While talking to her, I tell her that I will be down there later and that there is a new family moving in.  She asked if they needed anything for their baby .  When I got down to Tapestry yesterday afternoon, three of the families already living there had gathered a bassinet, baby clothes, toys, bottles, and pacifiers for the new family!
They are seeing people care about them, so they in turn are beginning to really care about each other.  They are reaching out to the new families.  As the bride-to-be put it to me, “You all are blessing us so much, we just want to be a blessing to others!”

The people we help want to help others.  That is how it is supposed to work.  I just wanted to celebrate this with you because what gets celebrated gets done!  Won’t you join in this journey with us?