For those of us who grew up in church, we most likely remember vivid details of Vacation Bible School. Gathering together with our friends, playing games and other outdoor activities in the summer heat, and hearing the great Bible stories. Ralph Green’s ministry is one that always stays in my mind. The VBS tradition lives on in many churches around the valley. One particular church, Spring Hill Baptist, has included a focus on Union Mission for many years as part of their VBS curriculum.
For over ten years, Spring Hill Baptist has asked the kids who attend VBS to help provide items to donate to the mission. For a while, they would gather various toiletries and hygiene items for the women at Brookside. Recently, they have gathered school supplies and backpacks for the Mission to hand out during our back to school efforts. This year was no different.
“The kids get really excited about gathering items for Union Mission,” says Theresa Whitener, Director of VBS at Spring Hill Baptist. “We like to make it a fun competition between two teams. To start, we announce Coin Days. Each day we focus on a specific coin. Monday, for example, could be penny day. The kids are encouraged to bring as many pennies in as they can to put in the collection jar. All of the coins gathered go toward buying
school supplies. We also ask them to bring in specific school supplies. The two teams have large bins on either side of the stage that holds their donations. At the end of the week, we tally up the gifts and declare a winner. This year they did so well, we came to a tie and everyone was declared
winners.”
When Theresa says they did well this year, she wasn’t kidding. Their modest VBS class size produced almost $1000 in coins and gathered around 50 backpacks stuffed full of school supplies.
“The excitement in the room just kept building each day especially when we announced how many pencils they were bringing in,” says Theresa. “Over 1400 pencils were donated that week!”
Spring Hill Baptist delivered the stuffed backpacks to Union Mission last month in time for us to distribute prior to school starting.
“I love it when churches and organizations partner with Union Mission like this,” says Jason Quintrell, President and CEO of Union Mission. “Not only do we get the blessing of such a generous donation, but the kids get to have fun while being a part of something bigger than themselves. It really
creates a great learning experience for each young person involved. Kudos to Spring Hill Baptist for organizing such a great effort!”
If your church or organization would like to learn how they can help Union Mission with similar donation drives, contact us at 304.925.0366. We would love to discuss some ideas and suggestions of where the help is needed most. Imagine if just 10 churches or other organizations rallied to
gather food for our upcoming holiday distributions. We could definitely reach more people with supplies and the Gospel!
