Good Works, Inc.

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GOOD WORKS, INC. A LETTER FROM THE HEART May 2001 =====================================================

Greetings from all of us at Good Works, Inc.–A COMMUNITY OF HOPE!

The work we are doing to love our neighbors continues to be very rewarding. The community of volunteers and staff working with us is alive with joy and passion. We are helping people to make positive life-changing decisions and this is enough for anyone to feel good. The climate and atmosphere of The Timothy House and The Hannah House is an environment of momentum where there are positive incentives. We are working with some real hurting people at both of our residential facilities and I believe we are making a positive difference. Right now, we are in the planning stage for our SUMMER SERVICE and summer KIDS CLUB outreaches. We are excited about the upcoming opportunities to “do good” for kids and seniors this summer and we are asking you to participate with us.

SUMMER SERVICE is one of the ways Good Works does community development. We seek out and welcome an estimated 250+ youth and adults from all over Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois to come to Good Works Hannah House and work with us as we love our neighbors. We have recently completed two dormitories which each sleep 12 people. In addition to the work these young people do on our properties (they will help us build our Project 2000), we also send them out to the homes of citizens in our community to provide ‘labor-intensive’ service. Jonathan Mullins on our staff works ahead of time to organize the projects with senior citizens and Paul Richard along with Todd Tatum (our Hannah House Manager) oversees the groups during their stay here. Several youth from each of these groups provide ‘support staff’ for our Summer Kids Club held at in the basement of the Central Avenue Church and at the West Elementary school playground. Our summer interns provide leadership to all of our projects.

SUMMER KIDS CLUB (now in our 4th year) is an effort to provide a fun and educational place for area kids (K-6) to come every day all summer. We especially want to serve families who are struggling to make ends meet by provide a hot lunch for both adults and kids all summer. We begin each day with a hot meal and follow this with a wide range of educational and inspirational activities. These include animal day, visitor day, field trip day and other special events. This project is led by our summer interns and is supported by many volunteers. We are seeking volunteers to come one day a week this summer to work with us as we love kids. Know someone who could help? How about you?

PROJECT 2000 UPDATE: Please drive over to see our new building as it is going up at the Hannah House property on Luhrig Road or click on PROJECT 2000. Through the help of some wonderful volunteers, the building is up, the roof is on and we are now working inside. Our time-line for finishing this office/bed and breakfast business is now in the hands of our volunteers. Phase I of the project is paid for and we are now seeking funding to build Phase II. Do you have ‘building’ skills? Can you help us? If so, contact Paul Richard at 740.594.3336 or contact us through e-mail at goodworks@good-works.net.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES Part of the mission of Good Works is to provide an avenue for people to love and serve their neighbors. Our volunteer opportunities are designed to be a growing and enriching experience.
–Would you consider helping with our Summer Kids Club once each week? We need a cook each morning and support staff for the afternoon activities. The program begins June 18 and goes through August 24th. Cooks are needed between 10:00 am and 12:30 each day and lunch is served at noon.
–We are also seeking volunteers to serve at The Timothy House one evening or morning each week for 10 weeks.
–We are also seeking volunteers to help one day a week with our small business Good Gifts. You would be helping to staff the business.
–Do you enjoy cutting grass and working in the garden? We are seeking volunteers who would like to work once each week at our Hannah House with our lawn and garden projects
–Would you organize a group of 5-10 people to sponsor ONE of our Friday Night Suppers this summer or fall? We serve a hot meal to around 80 people every Friday night!
–We are looking for volunteers to clean our carpets, install carpet, lay ceramic tile, a mechanic to work on our vehicles and an electrician to assist us with the installation of lights at our picnic shelter.

THE RETREAT CABIN We would like to make our solitude retreat cabin available to YOU or someone you know who needs a private place to rest and reflect. There is no bathroom in the cabin. You will need to take a walk to the Hannah House to use the bathroom and kitchen. If you would like an afternoon or overnight of solitude in our retreat cabin, just contact Keith at 740.594.9000.

GOOD GIFTS is our small business where we import hand-crafted products from developing nations and sell them locally. The profits are used to create jobs for people moving from welfare to work. We are looking for churches or community groups who would welcome Good Gifts to come for a half hour and sell our gifts. We are also in need of someone who can help us build a new vending cart. The vending cart we were borrowing has now been returned and we are looking for a carpenter who would volunteer some time to help us build a new cart? Finally, I want to ask for your help. Each year we plan a summer program in faith not knowing whether we will have all the funds we need. This year, we have been able to secure $11,000.00 of the $15,000.00 we need for the project. The funds go to run the KIDS CLUB and to pay our summer interns. We are now coming to you to ask if you would help us with the $4,000.00 we need to operate our Summer Projects. If you can help us, mark your gift “Summer Projects.” Any additional funds we receive will go directly towards the on-going needs of Good Works. And …thanks for loving us as we seek to love those who can not repay us!

CURRENT NEEDS: A NEW WOOD STOVE! Paper towels, color copy paper, postage stamps, zip lock freezer bags, chicken, beef, turkey, instant drink mixes, bleach, laundry detergent, all purpose disinfectant (409 type) cleaner. And of course…leftovers from your events. We continue to provide more than 16,000 meals a year mostly with donations from people like YOU!

Love is a verb,
Keith Wasserman