Little Lights Urban Ministries in DC

Less than two miles from our nation's Capitol, the pinnacle of power, are housing projects that have historically been some of the worst in the country (this 1989 article puts it mildly). In spite of the dire situation here, Little Lights was founded in 1995. For nearly 20 years, they have been a slowly growing and reliable presence that this neighborhood could depend on. From the beginning the focus has been children and education, but given the huge obstacle of simply surviving, the center of this ministry is Christ. Little Lights' mission statement:

To empower under-served youth and families in Washington, DC with the love of Christ. To develop their God-given potential spiritually, socially, and intellectually through academics, life skills, the arts, and discipleship.

Khaulysha, pictured above, is an incredible example of the successes of this ministry -- you can watch a video featuring her story at the end of this post! Little Lights offers tutoring, mentoring, and a Saturday drop in program from children (DiP). This is the program Mark and I first began volunteering with in 2009. DiP quickly became the highlight and most thought-provoking aspect of our weekends. We gathered with friends to pack bagged lunches -- the children at Potomac Gardens qualify for school lunch, we were told on the weekends lunch might simply not be an option for their families. During their time at DiP, the kids were given one on one attention from adults, a chance to do crafts, play arcade games, read books, and even have computer time. But more than anything, the kids asked for lunch, often as soon as they walked in the door. Before it was time to leave, they always asked if they could have another bag to bring home. Experiencing this once kept us coming again, month after month.

Little Lights has expanded their work to include a choir, professional training for the parents of the children they serve, coordinating diaper drives and even started an employment program called the Clean Green Team. This past year, they were also able to expand into an additional housing facility in the neighborhood. Most recently, my involvement with Little Lights has been to serve on their host committee for their annual benefit. Through this role, I learned the most startling fact about Little Lights. In order to quality to live in Potomac Gardens, a family of four must have an annual income of about $9,000 or less. That means they have little more than $40 per person, per week. This about your grocery budget, the cost of diapers, even a new school uniform shirt (many DC public schools have uniforms). I have known for years that the need was great, but that figure, $9k annually, is what has motivated me more than ever to support Little Lights and spread the word.

I could go on and on about Little Lights, how it has changed my life, the neighborhood of Capitol Hill, and so many of the resident in Potomac Gardens. But Miss Linda and Khaulysha tell it better in this video:




So why am I telling you all about Little Lights? Well, for a number of reasons. I believe it is important to be involved and connected to the community where you live. The church we attend has the tagline, inwardly growing, outwardly serving -- a heart for loving DC, not just using this city as a pit stop on a career trajectory. My love for DC has grown during our 7 years living here, and so has my awareness of this city's needs. In addition, the longer I am part of online communities like The Influence Network and She Reads Truth, the more firmly I believe that God is using the internet in big, bold ways to reach and serve his people.  So today I ask you, will you join me in supporting those in need right here in my neighborhood? 
Will you spread the word about Little Lights? 
Will you Tweet: Support @LittleLightsDC and their tutoring programs, http://ctt.ec/d9gcJ+
Will you consider giving $24 dollars today, June 19th, to support Little Lights in their fundraising campaign, Do More 24?

Giving Grace by Laura

Hello Scribble Pad readers! I'm Laura, from Twirl, and I'm honored to be here sharing my little mission with you today! This is me, standing on African ground where my heart was opened and stretched, and changed forever. Visiting a third world country will do that to you. Heck, not having chocolate for two weeks does that to me, but it was the people there, with their joy and their trust, and their unfaltering hope, that moved me to act long after I returned home.

I want to tell you about my dear friend named Grace, a lady who befriended me in a Tanzanian market six years ago and has been a part of my life ever since. Meeting Grace and experiencing her kindness and generosity when I was just a homesick 22 year old volunteer was just the beginning of the impact she had on my life. My family began funding her two kids' schooling shortly after my return, and over the years we yearned to empower her, and "teach her to fish" on her own. Grace supports her family through her shop in Arusha and recently joined me in bringing her beautiful handmade scarves to our friends in America through an online shop, Giving Grace.

We just restocked the shelves and are looking forward to raising the money she needs for 2013. We are drenched with the spirit of giving this Christmas, and I would love it if you would like to join the Giving Grace family in the new year. Read more about the launch of the store (September 2012). As you take a moment to browse, remember 100% of the proceeds go back to Grace so she can put it towards school fees. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet my friend, Grace, and thank you Shannon for the opportunity to introduce her! You can find her full story here, and see what happened the first time I asked friends like you to join our family in supporting her here. I still haven't picked my jaw up off the ground...

Guys, this is what I am talking about. 

These are the types of projects that I want 2013 to be all about. 

Serving one another in community. 

Honoring God.

I am so thankful to have "met" Grace, through Laura, through blogging, years 

after their paths first crossed.  I hope you get a chance to dive deeper into their 

remarkable story and as Laura says, join the Giving Grace family this year!

xoxo, 

Shannon

Gift Guide: Giving

In the spirit of thanksgiving, a gift guide to help us see beyond our own traditions and wish lists. Here are a few of the charitable organizations whose missions have stood out to me this year.  Perhaps you can find an organization that would also mean something to a gift recipient on your list this year.

One Sight states that its mission is to restore sight to the 284 million people who suffer from poor vision. You can help today by collecting and donating old glasses.

Based out of Seattle, Washington, 88bikes provides bikes to children in schools and orphanages across the globe.  For $44 you can purchase a bike repair kit and for $88 a bike, but the organization accepts donations of all sizes.  Bonus: 100% of the donated money goes directly to the local economy!

Part of the International Alliance for Youth Sports, the Global Gear Drive is working to enable sports by providing sports equipment to under served areas.  For more information about getting involved, watch this video.

The LCPL Jonathan W. Collins Memorial Fund was founded in honor of the Marine who was killed in action in 2004.  Among the various fund raisers, the memorial fund has partnered with build-a-bear to provide a message to the children of deployed military.  For $25 you can send a child a teddy bear with a voice chip message from their parent overseas. 

Helping to fight poverty, Krochet Kids provides jobs for women in Uganda enabeling them to begin providing for their families.  The women crochet clothing, hats, and accessories all available for sale online. Each individual item has the name of the craftswoman and you can look up their individual stories on the website. The organization offers several ways to get involved.

If there is an organization that you love and support that I have no included here {this is by no means a comprehensive list} please provide comment love for the benefit of both our readers and the organizations.  Happy giving!

Saturday Shoes: Red Toms

I have been on the fence about Toms since the company began.  I love the concept.  The One for One campaign is genius!  I support their efforts.  However, I am not sure their shoes are for me.

...fast forward to last Wednesday...

There was a woman, probably in her mid 40s, wearing dark straight leg jeans, a big scarf, an anorak jacket, and totally rocking red toms.  I fell in love.  This woman shoes me how someone other than hipster georgetown students rocking jorts {jean shorts, typically homemade} could legitimately wear toms in this city!

Now, the great debate of which red toms...

Classic Red Canvas

Red Stone Washed Twill

Orange Tharp Linen
{not technically red, but in the same color family}

Which color would you chose?

Holiday Gift Guide 2010: Giving

Teach the art of giving, and share the blessing of others with your family and friends this Christmas season.  Here are a a few ideas to make a difference:

1. Adopt an Animal: No, I am not suggesting you to show up at your cousins house with her new pet.  But rather, adopt an animal in your loved one's name either through the Wildlife Fund for $100 or contact your local zoo or aquarium.  Our Story: Mark proposed to me at the New England Aquarium in Boston with the assistance of a very talented seal named Chuck.  We adopted Chuck and love hearing about him each year.  Not only does this bring emotional benefit to us, it also helps support the aquarium and all of its visitors each year.

2. American Red Cross: Through their giving site, you can chose to help those in need based on location, need, crisis, or to support the military families.

3. Help end child trafficking by donating to Love146.  Learn more about Love146, their mission, and Prevention and Aftercare programs here.

4. Through World Vision Gift Catalog, you can purchase a goat, chickens, or even a share in a deep well dig to benefit families and communities across the globe.

5. Plant a Tree with a simple one dollar donation.

Still looking for ideas?  

View past installments of the 2010 Gift Guide for more information.

Ryan Odens, Cory Procter and Easter Seals

My friend Ryan was severly injured in an auto accident and through an unlikely series of events has come to know Cory Procter of the Dallas Cowboys well. Here is their inspirational story:

Dallas Cowboys' Procter inspired by good friend and disabled Iowa farmer

02:29 AM CDT on Sunday, April 12, 2009
By BARRY HORN / The Dallas Morning News

They appeared the oddest of couples walking through the giant suburban outlet mall last week – the beefy Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman and the frail farmer using a cane and struggling mightily to keep up with his friend. They noticed the finger-pointing and the stares and the stage whispers. But they minded not a single one. They simply continued doing what folks who enjoy one another's company do – talk, laugh and have a good time. Cory Procter, the mountain of a man, and Ryan Odens, whom the gawkers may view as a remnant of one, have established a solid friendship since their chance 2005 meeting at Texas Stadium.

The Cowboy gains strength from the farmer.

"He inspires me more than anything. ... How doesn't he inspire everyone?" said the 6-foot-4, 310-pound Procter, who earns his Cowboys keep in the trenches as a reserve center and guard. "Here is a guy who was paralyzed ... who they told would never walk, and he's getting around just fine."

Odens, an Iowa farmer, calls his friend "a big-hearted, down-to-earth kind of guy who happens to play football and doesn't perceive himself to be better than anyone." They shared their story last week, seated in the living room of Procter's Irving home just down the street from the Cowboys' Valley Ranch training facility. Odens had arrived the previous day from his northwest Iowa farm to watch Procter's heavy-metal band debut at Dallas' Granada Theater.

As for the 22 hours on the road to be there for half a dozen songs, the 5-foot-10, 150-pound Odens shrugged. "That's what friends do," he said. On this day, Procter, 26, spoke slowly and deliberately, allowing the more effusive Odens, 32, to fill in details, finish sentences and supply the punctuation.

"We're just a couple of good dudes doing what we do most," Procter said, "sit around and talk."
They agree they owe their friendship to the most unlikely of matchmakers – former Cowboys coach Bill Parcells.

Procter, just acquired from the Detroit Lions in December 2005, had been designated inactive for a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Parcells preferred that those not in uniform not clutter up his sideline. Banished to the stands, Procter eventually settled in a seat next to Odens, who had been invited to Dallas for his first Cowboys game by Easter Seals. By the end of the game, Procter and Odens were exchanging phone numbers and promising to keep in touch. It proved more than a polite, perfunctory farewell.

When the season ended, Procter returned to Detroit to collect his things and move them back to his family home near Seattle. Turned out, the Odens' farm outside of Little Rock, Iowa, was on the way.

Procter, the son of a veterinarian, planned to stay for one night. Instead, he helped with the chores on the 1,100-acre farm, where Odens and his brother grow corn and soybeans, for almost a week. "That's what friends do," Procter said.

Amazing Comeback

Ryan Odens was driving his pickup on an Iowa country road, headed to a dirt track race just across the Minnesota border in the summer of 2000 when ... he really doesn't know what happened next. Rescue workers said he probably rolled the pickup heading around a curve. It was a miracle that another driver came along and found Odens still breathing. Doctors later told Odens that the ambulance got him to the hospital just in time. The doctors in rural Minnesota couldn't begin to put Odens back together. Instead, they put him and his five fractured neck vertebrae and his broken spine on a helicopter and shipped him off to Sioux Falls, S.D. That's where the doctors told him he would spend the rest of his life paralyzed from the chest down without a prayer of walking again. Four and a half months later, when Odens was released from a rehab hospital in Denver, doctors looked down at him in his wheelchair and asked what he was going to do when he got home to Iowa.

"I'll farm," he said then.
"They laughed," he recalled now.

Odens took his first step in a physical therapy session back in Sioux Falls. "I was back in the field by April of 2001," he said. Back but with lots of help. Easter Seals, the nonprofit agency that helps folks with "disabilities attain greater independence," supplied mechanical lifts that allowed Odens to mount his tractor and another for his combine. They gave him a John Deere utility vehicle to get around. Overnight, electronic gates were installed so Odens didn't have to get on and off his farm vehicles.

Odens returned Easter Seals' generosity by becoming active in the organization. By 2005, he was the group's national ambassador, ever ready to speak to sponsors and potential donors.
It was that year at a meeting in Chicago that Odens met Ed Wenzel, now the vice chairman of the board for North Texas Easter Seals, and mentioned his affection for the Cowboys. Wenzel eventually arranged for a trip to Dallas, a tour of Valley Ranch and a ticket to a Cowboys-Chiefs game at Texas Stadium.

Role model

Procter has grown from an undrafted free agent from the University of Montana to a reliable lineman in four NFL seasons. This month, he signed on for another year with the Cowboys.
"When you play football, a lot of people want to tear you down," Procter said. "I have had a lot of people along the way tell me I can't play, but my work ethic is what got me here and will keep me here."

But just as certain as Procter is about the sweat that established him as an NFL player, he believes he has not worked nearly as hard as Odens, who spent hundreds of painstaking hours learning to simply walk again. "Ryan has a great attitude about life," Procter said. "He's just the kind of guy you want to be around."

In the course of an hour this day, the friends debated the merits of Ford vs. Chevy trucks, sang Alabama songs along with videos on Country Music Television and shouted barbs at Procter's girlfriend cooking in the nearby kitchen. When Odens isn't around, Procter volunteers for Easter Seals. "Cory is a big guy with a big heart," said Wenzel, the regional Easter Seals vice chairman. "I know he came to us because of Ryan and his disability, but Cory understands that there are thousands of Ryans who need help."

Back in the Procter living room, Odens struggled as he raised himself off the couch to make a final point. "I know I walk different and I look differently now than most, but some people see way beyond that. Take that man sitting over there," Odens said pointing at his friend, "he sees way beyond what's in front of him. That's a gift, his and mine."

To learn more about Easter Seals

and how to contribute, please click here.

A Hundred for a Home: The McNeil Family

Today I would like to share with you the story of a family that could use your prayers and generosity.

The McNeil's met at Taylor University and have been married for 10 years. Unfortunately, within the last nine months they have received the devastating news that both of their children, Waverly (5) and Oliver (2), suffer from a terminal disease called Sanfilippo or MPS III. You can read more about the disease and this family's journey on their blog: Exploring Holland

Their dear friends have started a campaign: A Hundred for a Home to gather 4,000 friends who will donate $100 each in order to help the family with the purchase of a house, necessary home modifications, and out-of-pocket medical expenses. (or really to gather anyone to give anything to support this family)

The goal is to minimize their financial burden, allowing them to enjoy the short time they have with Waverly and Oliver.

As you can imagine, caring for two children who are slowly dying is an unimaginable, devastating experience. In addition, there are straining financial expenses that insurance will not cover like: co-pays, certain procedures, respite care, formula for tube feedings, hearing aides, wheelchairs, and more.

Major home modifications also need to be made for the children. The McNeil’s home must be completely wheelchair accessible which implies the widening of doorways, installation of a wheelchair-accessible shower, and ramp installations, just to name a few.

Please visit A Hundred for a Home to read more about this family and consider donating today.