Neighbor 2 Neighbor: Giving Hope for Christmas

Each Christmas season, Hope Church focuses its attention to a cause outside our church walls that cannot be ignored by making an impact in ways that cannot be mistaken.  I am excited to share with you about our 2019 “Christmas With a Cause” outreach.  This year’s theme will be "Neighbor 2 Neighbor: Giving Hope for Christmas."  The goal this year is to raise resources which will be distributed among 40 families devastated by the Memorial Day Tornadoes to help them celebrate Christmas with their families. We are partnering with Pastor Norman Scearce of Gateway Cathedral in Trotwood. Gateway Cathedral sits in the Westbrook Village neighborhood, which was in the direct path of the Memorial Day Tornadoes.  If you drive through the neighborhood, you will see block after block of devastation left by the path of the tornadoes.  Not only does Pastor Scearce live in this neighborhood, Gateway Cathedral served as the distribution hub for the community in the weeks following the storm.  Pastor Scearce, a Trotwood School board member, will be working with Trotwood Mayor Mary McDonald and other community leaders to identify 40 families from the Trotwood community that experienced substantial loss and/or displacement.Hope Church is going to ensure these 40 families are able to have Christmas this year.  Therefore, money raised from our "Neighbor 2 Neighbor: Giving Hope for Christmas" campaign is going to be designated for these selected 40 families.  Parents in these selected families will be given retail gift cards so they can make the holiday purchases needed so their family can have a great Christmas at the end of a difficult year.  Because we need to give families time to do the shopping, we will be starting our campaign early in November.  We would love to invite you to participate with us.You can give online by visiting Hope’s Give page or send cash/check designated "Neighbor 2 Neighbor: Giving Hope for Christmas" to Hope Church, 5980 Wilmington Pike, Dayton, OH 45458. We are reminded that when we give to others, we are giving to Christ.  Jesus says in Matthew 25, “‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” We understand you have a lot of giving opportunities through the year.  But, if you are like most of us, you have looked at how our city has suffered this year and said, “We just have to do something.”Well now, we get to do this “something” together!  Thanks in advance for your participation.