Project Serve 10-11-09

A special "Thank-you" to Terri's children

for helping to manage the sorting frenzy!!!

Project Serve 10-11-09

Fifteen volunteers from Project Serve arrived at the Closet Sunday afternoon to continue our sorting mania!

Project Serve 10-10-09

Project Serve 10-10-09

Twenty volunteers from Project Serve came to the Foster CARE Closet on Saturday, October 10, to help us sort clothes. We had 4 tables set up with ambitious helpers. The clothes and hangers were flying!!!
A big "Thank-you" to all of the Churches and volunteers that participated in this weekend of serving Lincoln.

Carpet Laying

Ken Burbach, Dan Burbach, Scott Brown, Bob Hill and Eric Woodhead

The FANTASTIC 5

Dear Friends,

I want to share with you just how exciting it is to watch how God is bringing all of the work together for a complete project.

On Saturday June 13 we were blessed with 5 professional carpet layers donating their time and services to lay the carpet in the new space. We had been praying well in advance of this weekend that God would provide the people with the skills we needed to do the job and he provided ABUNDENTLY!

A BIG THANK YOU goes to Dan Burbach who headed up this group of men. These professionals work for Ernies in Ceresco, so if you are looking to have a flooring project done with excellence, call Ernies and request Dan and his crew!

We must also say a very gracious THANK YOU to Carpets Direct for helping supply the carpet, the adhesive and materials needed as well as hours of advice. Chris at Carpets Direct is AWSOME and they have treated with dignity and fairness as we have walked through this process together. Again, if you are looking at needing any flooring needs, please check with Carpets Direct and ask for Chris.

I have included pictures of before to compare with after.....enjoy!

Serving Clients in Omaha

The weekend of May 21 and 22 we had the honor of serving the families of Omaha. We began with setup on Thursday May 20. It was a bit challenging because there was a mix up on the times we needed some extra hands to help, but God is faithful and gave Terri, Shawna, Stephanie and I the strength we needed to get things ready to go on Friday morning. As you will see from the pictures, the space we were allowed to use was absolutely perfect for what we desired to do. A BIG THANK YOU to the CASA of Douglas County for allowing us the use of your building for this weekend.

As we began the day on Friday, the lines were forming by 8:00am. We began serving clients at 9 and for a full 3 hours we had a line for our checkout process. While things slowed down, we were never without a client in the room before we closed for the day at 8:00pm. God truly blessed the efforts of the Foster CARE Closet and the families that came. In total we served over 125 clients and thousands of items were given out.

On Saturday we had no idea how busy we would be with it being a holiday weekend, but much to our surprise there was a line again before we opened the doors at 9am. This day was not quite as busy but we still served about 100 clients and again, thousdands of items were given out. Again, there was hardly any time where we did not have clients in the building during our shopping hours until 4pm.


The total number of clients we served was 253 and over 2700 items were given out! I was amazed at what God had done to serve His children through the resources of the Foster CARE Closet.


Saturday with weary bodys we tore down and packed up what little we had to take back to Lincoln. It was amazing! What had taken a full 15 passenger van, a full SUV and two car loads to meet the needs of our clients in Omaha took less then 1/2 of the van to take back home and most of that was just the tools needed to set the Closet up. Needless to say, the need is great for our families in Omaha and we need to be praying for God to rise up a servent for His children in the Omaha area.

Thanks to the Omaha Foster Youth Council for the volunteers that they supported us with throughout the shopping hours. These young men and ladies did a fabulous job of helping support the clients as they shopped and we look forward to working with them again in the fall!





















Stephanie and Baby getting things ready for Friday morning!










































Shawna lining up the shoes for our clients























A few of the empty hangers we brought back to Lincoln after a successful weekend in Omaha

Time To Catch Up

Dear Friends,

I'm sorry that it's been a while since I last posted. That doesn't mean that we haven't been busy, in fact, quite the opposite!

We are continuing to work on the new space. Last Saturday the same group of kids that came the week before came again to continue with the painting. Let me just SHOUT to the world that these kids are FANTASTIC! This group of kids are dedicated to doing their best work and they inspire me to continue to do my best. Words can not express my deep gratitude to this group for adopting the Foster CARE Closet.

While this group of kids were working hard on the painting in the new space my son, Garrett and I were in Fremont, NE serving that community. During our time there we served over 20 wards of the state. This was our first time there and we couldn't have been more welcomed by the family we stayed with, Mary and Rick or the church that allowed us to use their facility, Calvary Baptist. Thanks for helping us feel at home!

The van "packed" for Fremont

Mary and Rick were a HUGE blessing! You also see the Pastor for Calvary Baptist talking with Rick.

A view of how we set up for on the road. In the back you see tables with items such as socks, shoes, blankets for our families.

A SPECIAL VOLUNTEER

Dear Friends,

I need to take a special time out to thank one of our most faithful volunteers! Mrs. Sarah V has been one of the biggest blessings that the Foster CARE Closet has had. Sarah has been a faithful servent for over a year and I truly count her as one of my best friends. Sarah finished her college studies in December (I think) and while she was carrying a full load of classes and working she continued to volunteer at the Closet. Now I must note that Sarah graduated with her nursing degree! I don't know how she managed everything with school, work, being a wife and volunteering, but I'm so thankful she did.

Sarah, you are an inspiration to me to keep hanging in there. I'm so blessed that you are my friend and you add so much to my life!

God Bless you Sarah.

Volunteer Day Goes On As Usual

On Saturday, while there was much painting to be done and accomplished, it was also the regular work day at the Closet. In addition to the students who helped paint, we also had several that continued on with the work of sorting and hanging the clothes for our clients.

I can't express how deeply grateful Patrick and I are to be blessed with this group of young people.

Thanks LSW SilverHawks.......you all simply SOAR above the rest!

I would also like to take this time to thank Jack for coming down on his Saturday to spend the day painting. Jack, I didn't use the "deer in the headlights" pic.....you owe me!

Let The Painting Begin

On Saturday there was a GREAT group of high school students from Lincoln Southwest that came to help paint. These kids did an absolutely fantastic job of working hard and staying the day. Patrick and I were so very blessed by what this group of students did to help us out.

A little bit about this group of students. They are part of a group created by the STUDENTS to do service projects in the Lincoln community. These students wanted to take service to a higher level then what was currently being offered to them and all I can say is WOW. If you are a Southwest High School student or you know one, let me encourage you to check out the club at Lincoln Southwest or on facebook at LSW Service Learning Club.

Getting Ready for Painting on Saturday

Well, we've been very busy trying to meet the goals to be able to paint on Saturday. One thing is for sure, we're always tweaking as we keep moving forward.

Stephanie working hard at sweeping up the mess!

I want to take just a moment to say a BIG THANK YOU to all those who have taken time from your busy schedules to help keep the Foster CARE Closet remodel on track. There is so much work to do when taking on a project like this and I've been blessed beyond measure with people stepping up. Some of these people have been friends for a long time, others have just signed onto this project. Either way, I want you to know that God is blessing the Foster CARE Closet through your handywork!

Caleb, Stephanie's husband gets into the act too

OK, so where are we? Well, yesterday was a day spent doing some more drywall work, pressure washing all the walls and putting on the first coat of primer. We've been exceptionally blessed to have GREAT weather. Today we plan on finishing any primer and drywall work. I will also be getting the supplies for painting tomorrow. I'm hoping that it will be a light work day because I'm really tired!

I hope you will enjoy the pictures and that you are having fun watching the updates. I'm enjoying sharing the work that God is doing with all of you!

BULLDOG MASCOT GOING, GOING

GONE!!

Mission: Drywall

Well, we were able to get a great start on the drywall project. Steve and Craig worked very hard this evening putting up the walls. There are only a couple of little sections to finish.

Craig and Steve working hard to get the drywall up.

We are still in need of several specific needs for the Closet as we continue to work through the remodel project and as we get ready to take the Closet on the road to Fremont, Omaha and Kearney in the next few weeks.

Please take time to pray for the specific needs listed below.

1. A drywall finisher

2. A carpet layer

3. A 15 Passenger van or small moving truck

4. To be ready to paint on Saturday I have some projects to finish at the Closet

a) To scrape a section of drywall

b) To finish power washing the walls and floor

c) To get a couple of coats of Kilz on the walls

5. People to help pack next Wednesday for Fremont

I would also like to ask prayer for our family as we are working through this very busy time. The babies are missing Mommy and Mommy is missing them! Pray that I will be able to balance my time spent with them with the time I need to spend at the Closet. Pray that when I am able to be at the Closet my time is productive. Pray that when I'm at home with the babies I'm able to relax and enjoy my time with them.

Specific Needs for the Closet

Dear Friends,

We are in need of a 15 passenger van that can have the seats removed or a small moving truck. We would like to use this to take our Closet on the road to Fremont, Omaha and Kearney.

We are also in need of a couple of paint sprayers to help with the painting on Saturday.

Tearing Down The Walls Part II

As I went back today to help a client, I wanted to get some more pictures that show the final of all that was done yesterday.

As we continue to move forward our plans are to hang 4 sheets of drywall on Wed. night. We will continue to clean the ceiling and scrub the walls during the week so that we can hopefully be in a position to start painting on Saturday the 25th. If there is anybody that can help during this week, please feel free to contact me with your availability and I will do my best to make it work. Let me also take this time to remind everybody that this Saturday is the regular volunteer day for the current space as well. We plan on being there between 9am and 4pm.

Tearing Down The Walls Part I

Dear Friends,

On Saturday a small but MIGHTY group of people showed up to help tear down walls, clean the ceiling and finish getting the black off the walls. Terri, Steve, Greg, Wayne and Patrick joined me in a day filled with hard work and great rewards. THANKS SO MUCH to these people for helping out!

Steve working hard at tearing down a wall.

Our own tool man Greg showing how it's done!

Patrick, thanks for not being afraid of heights!

Terri.....try to not be so excited about chipping away at that wall.

Wayne using his homemade invention to speed up the process of getting rid of the black spots.