Hope Freely Given, One Family at a Time
A mother who lost her job last year and is still unemployed is followed by a father who is laid off this month and has no immediate options for work. They have no savings. Bills become increasingly more difficult to pay. They get behind in their car payment. Then the sharks start to circle demanding payment or else their only transportation to look for work will be taken from them. A child has to rushed to the clinic with unexplained symptoms. Health issues for one of the parents becomes an endless struggle. One of the children needs braces desperately. Their landlord is showing up every week wanting the rent. They start to argue more. Frustration expands. And the children: they have little-nothing to spend for school clothes, school supplies or school projects. Hunger squeezes their stomachs. Hope begins to dim. And soon they are another statistic for an obscure government report.
The scene is real. There is no Hollywood exaggeration needed. And this family and many more like them live in your community. They are the new “working poor.” Many once occupied the middle class. These are not loafers who refuse to look for a job. They are not lazy or complacent. They want to work. They will accept employment. But daily desperation and unmet desire have refused to budge from their home.
These are American families. They pledge allegiance to our flag. They pay taxes. They give their time to community causes. They want the best for their children. But no matter how hard they try or how much they seek a solution, the struggle continues.
Our community has not forgotten these families. Birthed in January, 2011, One Hope Ministries International was launched by local community faith leaders to unite businesses, educational entities, individuals and churches into an active, rapidly growing organization that actually works in the community rather than simply talking about what needs to be done for the community. One Hope’s initiatives include:
Bags of Love: a partnership with local primary, elementary and intermediate schools to provide food over the weekend for children who may not have enough to eat while away from school. Bags of Love is now in 16 local schools in Berkeley and Jefferson County. Diana Wall, Bags of Love Coordinator, plans to expand to at least 24 schools this year as people step up to feed a child each weekend for only five dollars a week.
Bags of Love is One Hope’s signature mission in our community designed to insure that no child ever goes hungry. This summer feeding stations were provided at area High Schools for families needing food for their children. Local churches provided the food and volunteers distributed hundreds and hundreds of pounds of easy to prepare meals to local residents.
One local parent said of the program, “It matters to know that someone is thinking about those who are struggling to feed their children. Bags of Love gets my son through the weekend with enough to eat.”
Another parent stated, “To know that Bags of Love pulls together churches, businesses and individuals to actually work together in partnership with our schools with no other agenda than to feed hungry children is amazing!”
“Bags of Love” is the community’s largest kid’s volunteer weekend feeding program in the region. It is supported by local residents who care for children as a top priority of their giving and serving. It is completely confidential as only the school guidance counselor knows what children receive weekend food from Bags of Love. You can discover more about Bags of Love at http://www.onehopeministriesinternational.org
Uni-fest: one of the largest community events in Berkeley County each summer, Uni-fest brings together colleges, churches, local businesses and over 200 volunteers who work for the six months prior to the event to raise 20,000 dollars plus in order to host this free community gathering.
Uni-fest gave away over 1600 school book bags, 2000 hot-dogs, 1000 smoothies, and hundreds of articles of clothing on August 21st at the Martinsburg High Bulldog Stadium. One attendee stated, “I have never seen people work together without competition or complaints like the people of Uni-fest did this year. To pull together so many diverse individuals for one purpose in our community is amazing!”
Mobile Food and Clothing Trucks: One Hope outfits and resources mobile trucks who take essential household items into area neighborhoods freely distributing to those in need.
Kid’s Explosion: One Hope takes character-building, fun, energetic weekly kids groups on-site into area apartment and townhouse units as well as local neighborhoods. Many do fine work with our children in educational, sports and artistic opportunities. One Hope goes a step further and helps K-5th graders develop strong values and relational connections with others who mentor them into strong, vibrant community citizens.
J Club: NEW! This 6-12 grade gathering of teenagers from across the region on Wednesday Nights@ 6:30PM is producing teen leaders and innovative approaches to connecting teens to local, regional and international opportunities to make a significant difference with their lives as a teen.
These are our friends and our neighbors. Our children play with their children. They attend our schools. They are human beings created in the image of God with great value and eternal purpose. None of these precious children, growing teens or working poor families should ever go hungry or miss out on a touch of loving compassion any of us can freely provide. These are people, in our neighborhoods, who simply need to know that they are noticed and still possess value.