Volunteers Step in to Meet the Need

We have had an interesting hosting week this week.  We will have 13 host congregations in the network beginning January 2011, which makes for a full hosting schedule with no gaps.  However, this week, we have had a "gap" in our schedule with no host congregation for our families.  There are a number of organizations and individuals who have stepped in to fill the gap and we would like to extend a special thanks to these people:

Westminster Presbyterian Church picked up an extra hosting week, handling overnight accomodations.  Trinity Community Church, Grace Lutheran Church, Wilmington West Rotary Club, volunteer Susan Sherry of Hockessin UMC & her book club, and Ralph & Lee Klesius of The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd all stepped in to provide meals to our families.

A special thanks goes out to everyone who has worked together to make this week a success!

Theo Krapels of Westminster Presbyterian meets Ted Foschi of Wilmington West Rotary Club

Wilmington West Rotary feeds our families!

Thanks to the volunteers at Wilmington West Rotary Club who spent two nights this week providing meals for our families! They were recruited by Board member Kymm Hockman who spoke at one of their meetings.  We caught a group of the Rotary club members this Thursday evening as they brought & prepared dinner, and enjoyed the company of our families. The Wilmington West Rotary supports a number of good causes (beside Family Promise!) including:  Ronald McDonald House, Salvation Army, Boys & Girls Club of America, and the BTL Foundation which, among other things, provides Thanksgiving meals to families in need. Thanks Wilmington West Rotary!

Doug Kook, Jill Gordy, Nancy & Ted Foschi with daughter Natalie, and Jamie Kegerise

Ebenezer UMC has a smooth sailing first hosting week!

We visited Ebenezer United Methodist Church during their first hosting week - things were very organized and running smoothly, thanks to the great organization of their co-coordinators Kristin Moser & Brooksie Pruden, along with many dedicated volunteers.  Ebenezer joined Family Promise as our 12th host congregation this July, and was trained by Board member Kymm Hockman and ready to host just in time to help fill out our Fall schedule.  Ebenezer recently completed a major renovation and facilities upgrade, providing wonderful facilities for our families.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal and fellowship, with the volunteers and the clients who were obviously enjoying themselves.

Pastor Ted Day and missions chair Gretchen Fort were among the early supporters of Family Promise.  They worked through various teams to prepare the church to join our network.  Since the decision to join, the response to serve has been fantastic with 60-80 people coming out to serve this first hosting week.  Pastor Ted commented that one of his members came by this morning, with tears in his eyes, and said "this is what the church should be doing."  Pastor Ted noted, however, that he had trouble finding a place to serve this week -  he just had to stay out of the way of his eager church members!

Thanks Ebenezer UMC for your service to homeless children & families!

Laurel Wirtz, Jean Harlan, Kristin Moser, Gretchen Fort, Mary Anderson & Kathy Gibney

Congregational Coordinator Kristin Moser & Jean Harlan

Missions Chair Gretchen Fort & Pastor Ted Day

FP Playground is complete!

On a beautiful Saturday, volunteers completed the Family Promise playground.  The team of Pastor Paul Lundmark & Dave Smith (Grace Lutheran), David & Michael Glasscock (Hockessin Baptist) completed the playset and spread the rubber mulch.  They built on the work completed by the Prudential Fox & Roach team a couple of days earlier.  Thanks again to our many volunteers and to a donation from St. Albans Episcopal Church that made all of this possible!

New fence at the FP Center

Along with our new playground, we have a wonderful new fence along one side of the backyard at our Family Promise center. This was constructed by Tom Guider of Hockessin United Methodist Church and is a wonderful addition to enhance safety for our younger clients. Thanks Tom!

Family Promise Website has a new look!

Take a look at our website www.familypromisede.org - it has a completely new (professional) appearance.  Thanks to Andy Clark of WCC Presbyterian Church who used his IT expertise to enhance our web presence.  Thanks Andy!  (here's a picture of Andy from one of the White Clay Creek hosting weeks).

Prudential helps build the Family Promise playground!

Prudential Fox & Roach’s Hockessin/Pike Creek Office volunteers have done a tremendous service for Family Promise, coming out in force to help us build a new playground for our families.  


Eyewitness account from Board member Pastor Paul Lundmark who organized the operation:  "At one point on Thursday, I counted twenty volunteers from Prudential Fox Roach Realtors helping to put together the new playset at the Family Promise Center. They were awesome -with an A+titude - clearing the playground, hauling away two pickup loads of brush and clutter and assembling the lion's share of the playset which we'll finish up hopefully this coming Saturday. Thanks guys!"

Prudential Fox & Roach and its affiliate, The Trident Group, has over 64 offices in the region with an established charity to focus its energy on supporting the communities they serve.  Annually, Prudential Fox & Roach Charities participate in Community Service Day which is its day of giving back to the community. On this day all offices are closed to business and employees work with a non-profit on a service project. This is a formidable amount of manpower!  Since Prudential Fox & Roach’ s Charity mission statement is “committed to addressing the needs of children and families in stressful life circumstances,” Prudential is especially enthused to participate in a program which directly reverses the movement of families from homelessness into safe housing while keeping the families in tact.  Fox & Roach Charities has given over $3,000,000 in donations to over 350 community organizations since 1995.

Have a look!  Here you will find a complete photo album of events during the day:

SJMC Hosting Week

This week our families are at St. James Mill Creek enjoying the hospitality! Take a look at some of our caring volunteers, and special thanks to the SJMC congregational coordinators Jennifer Idell & Alison Jessup!  Here's Pastor Paul Lundmark's (FP Board Member) account:  "After having dinner with the good folk at St. James Wednesday evening, I suggest we adopt a new metric: APG, average pounds gained. WOW what a great dinner of pulled pork, beans, salad and home baked desserts. Pastor Jim's dog, Rascal, definitely added personality to the evening."

St. Philip's Lutheran has a full house!

St. Philip's volunteers getting dinner ready for our families

St. Philip's Lutheran is hosting a full complement of 4 families (including our first single father family!).  St. Philip's was one of the very first congregations that launched our network, with full support of Pastor Patrick Downes who was one of the startup team leaders.  When we arrived, we met Jane Newcomer, Pam Brenneman, Lori Bowles, Ruth Bowles, Leona Schechinger and Ellen Lenker hard at work getting dinner ready for the families, and they were gracious enough to take a minute out for a picture.

Nancy & Brandon Zinnato

 The St. Philip's Family Promise crew is led very capably by Brandon Zinnato, shown here with his mother Nancy Zinnato, both of whom have been very supportive of launching our Family Promise network.  Brandon is part of the social ministry committee that first considered bringing Family Promise to St. Philip's.  Brandon says:  "At first, I thought it looked a little odd and alot of work, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized Family Promise was something we had to do!"  The whole social ministry committee was on-board after only one meeting and St. Philip's church council unanimously approved to join in 20 minutes - they moved quickly!  Brandon credits Aldersgate UMC pastor Beverly Lewis with encouraging him early on, and then goes on to paraphrase Matthew 25 where Jesus said "when you are serving the needy, you are serving him."

Brandon Zinnato & Jason Kaul

All told, over 60 people at St. Philip's have come together to support Family Promise, including Pastor Patrick who likes to spend overnights with the families with his 3 children.  Brandon says: "I'm the coordinator, but it really is a team effort" and being a good son, Brandon makes sure to credit his mother Nancy with being one of his most reliable volunteers!  Kris Dierks, Steve Furguson, Sharon Kittle, and many others have been essential to the work at St. Philips.  Another volunteer we met is Jason Kaul, who is driving the van this entire week.  Jason has been coming to St. Philip's for 18 months now and stated unequivocally: "St. Philip's is the warmest & friendliest congregation I've ever walked into!"

How was the dinner?  Quite good.  Brandon asserts "In my experience, Lutherans are the best cooks."  Well....we're staying out of that one...but perhaps a Family Promise cook-off challenge might be brewing?

Up this week is also a trip to Old Country Buffet, thanks to the contributions of St. Philip's members.  The families really enjoy a night out and getting the opportunity to select what they get to eat - so it's a nice treat!

Thanks St. Philip's volunteers!

What We Have Accomplished

A summary of highlights and history in pictures of what we have accomplished this year.  Thank you to all of the volunteers who have made 2010 a success!  click on the link:  What We Have Accomplished