Happy New Year might feel like a strange way to start a letter in July, but July begins the start of the new 2023-2024 fiscal year for GraceWorks. It also marks our 28th year of ministry! And, as if giving a heavenly nod to the important work we do, God made it possible for us to finish the 2022-2023 fiscal year with distributing the 10,000th food cart of that year alone. Yay God!!!
You may remember this month also heralds the start of our new extended lease and with it a significant increase in our rent. As the need for services grow, along with the accompanying cost of shelter and utilities support for Neighbors, the increased costs of food for the Food Pantry, and now this new “hunka hunka burnin” love of new rent costs for the lease, we know God is asking us to trust Him. Knowing you are walking with us helps us to eagerly accept God’s invitation to step even deeper into what He is calling us to in this new year.
Your faithfulness is so encouraging, because even though you too are faced with some of the same rising costs and have felt the need to tighten your belts around your family, church and corporate budgets, we have still been able to depend on your sacrificial and creative giving.
Here are just a few creative ways people have been able to continue giving. One of our donors used the mandatory distribution through her IRA to give an impactful gift. Another donor gave using a portion of a long-standing inheritance her father had left for her thus allowing her to give one of the highest gifts at our annual dinner.
Businesses are looking for creative ways to continue their partnership with us as well. One local well-known real estate company gifts GraceWorks a percentage from the sale of their homes. Still another business invited some of their clients to join them in supporting us. Some other businesses are hosting a online virtual food drive to help us feed families this year.
A church unable to add us to their mission’s budget right now instead hosted a special congregational collection in order to continue their support of our Neighbor serving Neighbor mission. Men and women small groups as well as adult Sunday School groups at a number of churches also partnered with us by taking up special collections that frankly came to some very significant and impactful amounts.
Still others have gotten even more creative. Two musicians who regularly entertain crowds during the downtown Franklin Art Crawl on the first Friday of every month cheerfully bring all their tips to GraceWorks the following week. Even young children have hosted neighborhood lemonade stands or bake sales and proudly bring their precious profits to support the needs of their Neighbors.
With increasing needs, costs and rent, this new fiscal year is sure to be demanding! Thank you in advance for the many ways you will allow God to use you to get us through despite the challenges that we know we will face. We are trusting God for another year of record service fueled by record giving!
Faithfully Yours,
Valencia A. Breckenridge, CEO
God bless this wonderful work and service
I praise God for You and Your hearts which are filled with goodness and (grace). I well remember quite a long while ago, when I poured out My needs to You. I left with a load of good food that was really good and healthy, too ! Ya’ll showed Me real love and diligence in distributing the things I needed to makeends meet. You never made Me feel like a beggar or bad for needing a little help. You will always be a special Memory in My heart. Thank God I only had to ask that one time but You made a huge difference for good in helping Me survive and getting Me back on My feet. God Bless You!. I will help You from time to time, so that You can help someone else !
Sincerely,
Susette Sadler