June 6, 2010
It is update time again, and for the first time since the epic flood of 2008 this blog article is genuinely a joy to write. We have completed the flood ravaged building we bought in October 2008, and expansion of our services to those living in poverty, and the homeless. So that which occupied more than fifty percent of my time each week has now come to and end, and the work accomplished with with help of Jesus Christ at it's center is a good work. Everyone is invited to stop in and tour our new facility. I am also in the process of wrapping up our grants which helped us in rebuilding the current mission building, and will provide final reports to the grantors by the end of the month.
I now have turned my attention to a downturn in donations. Just at a time when our new home has increased our expenses, we now need to begin an immediate fundraising campaign. We share this dilemma with all non-profits as the economy continues to lag due to the recession, and the small business community is continuing to struggle in it's recovery from the epic flood of 2008.
Our new brochure for the mission goes to the graphic artist this coming Tuesday, and hopefully to press by the end of the week. We keep it in prayer that it will adequately tell our story to our supporters, guests, and the public-at-large. By the end of June 2010, it will be included in the annual fundraising letter to our current supporter base.
Once the brochure is printed, and the fundraising letter has gone out in the mail, we then will turn our attention to producing our third DVD. The first told the story of the startup of the mission, the second told the story of it's destruction in the epic flood of 2008, and the new one will tell the story of recovery from the flood and expansion of our services. We currently serve approximately 1,700 family units, which equates to over 4,000 children of God who live in poverty who are registered guest of CrossRoads Mission and we help to support. That represents three times the number of guests we supported prior to the flood of 2008.
With this increase, we have begun to look at our neighbors properties which are not being rebuilt, and keep it in prayer. Our prayer is that if the owners of those properties do not rebuild, that a donor/s will step forward and help us to buy one or more of them. Then we can work on a building project to keep our public charity in line with the needs of the community and our guests. Please keep this in your prayers as well!
We now have a finance committee which will begin its work this month as we end our fiscal year, and begin to plan fiscal year 2010-2011 budget matters. We are blessed these volunteers have stepped forward from several congregations to help us.
The second annual Picnic on the Prairie at Ushers Ferry is planned for Sunday, August 22, 2010, between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. Be sure to save this date on your calendars now. More to follow as the planning committee solidifies their plans. We need your support on this, as it is the major fundraiser of the year for CrossRoads Mission.
Above all else, all things at CrossRoads Mission are kept Christ centered, begin and end in prayer, and our volunteers and supporters remain the heart and soul of the mission. So we again encourage you to keep us in your prayer life, as we keep you in our prayers and devotions.
Yours in Christ,
Pat Kane, Chaplain
Executive Director
CrossRoads Mission
1006 Second Street SW
Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
Phone: 319-365-2724
Fax: 877-735-6142
www.crossroads-mission.com
Due to the continued high need for food to pass out to our guests, and the continuing shortage of food availability for purchase through HACAP, we are asking our support base to help generate food drives to keep our food pantry filled. The following is a list of our human, monetary, and food support needs:
