Hope Gives

Hope Gives is our monthly giving project at Hope Community. We take a $1,000 a month and do something in the community. We have supported a father/daughter dance, free swimming for 200 kids, helped provide cochlear implants for a child, held a tailgate on rivalry football weekend and a host of other things.

In May we did something different. We gave each family a $25 gift card to give away to someone they thought could use it. Now $25 now a days doesn’t seem like much money but the act of giving to someone, with no strings attached, is a huge blessing for the one giving and it’s thoughtful for those who receive it. We’ve had some great stories come out of it. Here are a few:

Gave our card to a young lady with 2 little girls, recently broke up with her fiancé and just feeling down and out. Got a big hug and shed a few tears

Gave ours to a cashier that had been sick with Covid for 2 weeks. It really put a strain on her financially. A tear may have been shed.

Gave ours to a young man waiting on cars at Taco-T, he said, “I can really use this”, and shook my hand

Gave ours to a young sweet girl that works at Menards. She held it on her chest and said thank you several times!

We gave to a lady that lost her husband 2 months ago and has a 16 year old daughter and helping with 3 of her grandbabies we all cried

We were in Walmart a few minutes ago and met a young family with 5 small children and 2 carts of groceries. We decided they could use the $25 gift card so we approached them offered them the card and explained what our church was doing and invited them to church. They were very appreciative and didn’t really know what to say other than many Thank Yous.

There are many other stories, but you get the point. That $25 is not going to change someone’s financial issues but It may solve the eternal issue. It may let them know that there is a God who loves them and was thing of them and laid them on someone’s heart who gave them the card. It maybe the card that gets them into a relationship with the God of the universe.

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. Mathew 5:!6