Young Life/Thrivent Fundraising Chili Feed
Young Life/Thrivent Fundraising Chili Feed
By Marci Eben
I'm just sitting down in my office after a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend, and as I look out the window at the leaf-covered Mickelson Trail and the crisp November sky I can't help but feel overwhelmed by all the ways God has blessed me this last year.
One of those blessings came quite unexpectedly just a few weeks ago when Jack Jewett contacted me to say that Thrivent Financial for Lutherans was looking to donate some funds to a non-profit before the end of the year, and that they were interested in teaming up with Hill City Young Life to do that.
Now, let me just take a moment and be honest with you. This was one of those blessings in disguise. It was disguised as an inconvenience. While I was grateful that the folks involved were interested in helping teenagers in Hill City and wanted to do that by financially supporting Young Life, the terms of the donation necessitated that we host a fundraiser of some sort . And fast. The idea of adding that to my already busy, pre-holiday schedule was daunting.
So it was not without a few reservations that I agreed to meet with some members of Thrivent for a brainstorming session - and that is when it began to be evident to me that many would be blessed and God would be glorified through this little event.
Within two weeks, with the help of several community and Thrivent members, we pulled off our first- ever, "Pre-Hill City High School Fall Play Chili Feed". I can't even tell you how overwhelmed I was by the number of people - many of whom I'd never before met - who, with joyful hearts, volunteered to make chili and cornbread, donate supplies, help decorate tables, print and distribute posters, make phone calls, get ads in the newspapers and called frequently to see if there was anything else they could do to help. The high school theatre department and administration office were encouraging and helpful about the event taking place on school grounds and immediately prior to a school event. And over seventy-five people arrived to eat their fill of chili and give of their finances to help Young Life love Hill City teenagers to Jesus. With the additional funds from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) we raised over $2,000 to help Hill City teens go to Young Life camp in June 2010. This money will be a huge blessing to many Young Life kids, and to their families as well. But even more of a blessing was the way I saw so many people from our community come together with a common purpose and give of themselves and their money and their time, even if it was a bit "inconvenient" for them. I am deeply grateful to Thrivent, the Gathering Place, my Young Life leaders and kids and everyone else in who helped out with the chili-feed.
Thank you!