Hope's Service Events

Once a month, usually on a Saturday, Hope's Service Team sponsors "Service Saturday."   Service Saturday provides Hope's members and the local community a chance to help others in our community.  Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:35, "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in."  It is our duty as Christians to help the least of us. 

This spring, as part of Hope's year-long Hunger Focus, the Service Team invites all Hope members and friends to be a part of the "Garden of Hope - our urban garden project in Hope's backyard.  Click here for more information.


   
                                                   Prior Service Events

March 27 & 28, 2010 - South Oakland Shelter

The South Oakland Shelter is a moveable homeless shelter for individuals who are seeking work or are currently employed and within weeks or days of having earned their way off the streets.  The South Oakland Shelter is sponsored by churches, synagogues and businesses of South Oakland County, Michigan, working together with local service agencies.  To learn more about South Oakland Shelter, log onto their website. 

Nearly 29,000 people in Michigan are homeless and families make up 40-50% of that figure.  On an average night in Detroit, more than 9,500 individuals and families are homeless.  Each year, our sister congregation, Antioch Lutheran in Farmington Hills has provided a week of shelter and food for the clients of SOS. 

Hope will be taking responsibility on Saturday evening, March 27 and Sunday morning, March 28. 

February 2009 - Detroit Rescue Mission

 

Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries provides emergency shelter and serves over 1,000,000 meals annually to homeless and hungry people in the Detroit and Highland Park area.  Hope members traveled to Detroit to prepare and serve the mission's lunch and supper on February 13.  To learn more about their ministry, log onto www.drmm.org.   

January 2009 - Mitten Tree Collection
                          - Detroit Priest Elementary Used Coat Collection

December 2009 - Goodfellows Christmas Gift Collection & Delivery
                               - Detroit Priest Elementary Christmas Gift Game Collection

November 2009 - Farmington Neighborhood House Food Collection
                               - Hope's Ninth Annual Alternative Christmas Fair

September & October - The team prepares for the Alternative Chirstmas Fair

July 2009 - Make-A-Wishes "Heroes Hurrah!"

Hope members and friends volunteered to help with the Make-A-Wish Foundation's Wish-A-Mile 300 Bicycle Tour at the Chelsea Fairgrounds during the month of July.  The Make-a-Wish Foundation of Michigan grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.  Click here to find out more about the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Focus:HOPE

Focus: HOPE, a civil and human rights organization founded in 1968 by Fr. William T. Cunningham (1930-1997) and Eleanor M. Josaitis, began as the decision of several people to face an acute social and moral crisis. The 1967 riot left metropolitan Detroit sharply divided along racial lines. By early 1968, shock had deepened into bitterness and hostility. New words described the new reality: polarization, white backlash, black militancy, flight. 

It was in this atmosphere that the Focus: HOPE co-founders felt compelled to make a difference. They wrote a mission statement and inspired a movement. The material resources available to them were minimal. But the human resources - extraordinary people from all walks of life with a dedication to the ideal of brotherhood, with courage and determination to endure - proved abundant. Focus: HOPE was born, and remains, a movement of minds, hearts, and wills committed to "intelligent and practical action to overcome racism, poverty and injustice." On a recent May Saturday, several Hope members gathered to carpool down to Focus:HOPE's downtown Detroit warehouse to pack and deliver 79 boxes of food to a Detroit senior citizen complex. Those who attended agreed that this was a very satisfying and meaningful day.

Grace Centers of Hope

Grace Centers of Hope is Oakland County’s oldest and largest homeless shelter providing hope and help since 1942. Today, Grace Centers of Hope is considered one of the leading faith-based organizations in Southeastern Michigan, daily confronting issues of homelessness, addiction, poverty and spiritual emptiness. On any given night, Grace Centers of Hope will accommodate between 150-200 men, women and children. Each year they serve over 127,000 meals and provide over 55,000 nights of stay. In February, Hope members served in their soup kitchen; prepared, served and cleaned-up after the meal and did some pantry work besides.

Other Service Saturday Events

Some of our recent "Service Saturday" events have been; packing and sorting food at Gleaners Food Bank in Detroit, delivering collected Christmas gifts on the Farmington Goodfellows route, and providing and serving a home-cooked meal to the families staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Detroit.  If you have any "Service Saturday" idea opportunities, contact Jody Monroe, our Service Team leader.