What a great feeling to be back in the Salem Convention Center June 24! Our last live Fancy Friday was in 2019, and while the Lord met our needs via two online events during the pandemic, it was good to be in person!
We had fun with our “building” theme, featuring lots of hardhats and construction signs. We got updates on SLF’s ‘products and services,’ i.e. Lightning Rods, Community Partnership Teams (CPTs), and the CaN (Churches as Neighborhood) Centers network. Our signature story, featuring one of the CaN churches, was a moving testimony of how Tabernaculo de Salem is changing lives through its jail and re-entry ministry. It’s the story of a Mom whose meth addiction led to crimes and a stiff prison sentence … today, she and her three kids are reunited, living in a nice house in a great neighborhood. She’s attending Chemeketa Community College as a first step toward a degree in drug-and-alcohol recovery work. All because of the Love one church shared with her family.
We know that late June was a difficult date for many of our friends to schedule (vacations, etc.) We’re grateful for those who were able to attend the Lunch or Dessert, and we are now sharing the good news here with y’all. (The event is available on Vimeo, if you have 59 minutes!) Our goal is to inspire 1) Hope, 2) Action, and 3) $upport for SLF and our 50+ partnerships.
I’ll be candid, we’re hitting a home run on the Hope and Action goals. We could use a little help (as folks are able) on the $upport side. On the back of this letter is a Support Card we’re hoping folks will use to make a gift or – here’s where we’re really short – ongoing pledges. Those monthly Sustainer gifts that are so critical to any nonprofit’s annual budget. We are praying for continued response over the Summer, and we’re so very grateful for all the partners who walk with the SLF team in the neighborhoods of Salem and Keizer.
Thank you!