New Hope Community Church, Chula Vista, Calif.
Background:
Some 40 million people worldwide are suffering from AIDS, and while many of them have caregivers, medical supplies for proper care are scarce, particularly for those living in developing countries.
Acknowledging this reality, New Hope Community Church in Chula Vista, Calif., elected to support its global neighbors through World Vision’s AIDS Caregiver Kits program, which works with churches to assemble and ship supply kits to AIDS caregivers.
Raising money for a different global need every Christmas Eve service, New Hope chose AIDS caregiver support for 2006. And after raising funds to buy supplies, the 450-attendee church hosted a Caregiver Kit Event where people of all ages assembled kits.
How To Do It:
1. Recruit a Caregiver Kit Event team. Delegate tasks to volunteers: marketing, overseeing fund-raising campaigns, purchasing items, organizing supplies and shipping the items to World Vision. Five New Hope volunteers coordinated the making of 110 kits.
2. Set a goal. Decide how many kits your church and community can make. Plan to hold your Caregiver Kit Event at a member’s home or at the church (if assembling more than 25 kits).
3. Register with World Vision, which will have a representative contact you to help with necessary resources.
4. Build excitement. Promote the event through bulletin announcements and e-mail blasts. Encourage members to invite their unchurched friends and family to participate.
5. Buy the items. Each kit contains antibacterial soap, washcloths, petroleum jelly, a notebook, antifungal cream, antidiarrheal medicine, acetaminophen, a flashlight with batteries, cotton balls, latex gloves and a handwritten note of encouragement to the caregiver.
6. Create an assembly line. On the day of the event, arrange items in piles so participants can fill kits as they walk. At the line’s end, provide index cards and pens for people to write personal notes.
7. Send your kits back to the World Vision Distribution Center. They will be shipped to Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Cost: If supplies are purchased in bulk, each kit costs $22, plus your local sales tax. Shipping and handling is included in that cost.
Results: New Hope Community Church raised $2,750 and built 110 kits at its event.
Takeaway: “It’s easy for Christians to get tunnel vision,” says New Hope Senior Pastor Russ Cox. “But participating in the Caregiver Kit Event opened our eyes and hearts to become more externally focused.” New Hope Community Church now participates in six ongoing service projects for its local community, including ministering to the cardboard cities of nearby Tijuana. Cox says: “There are people in need in our own city, so we need to be involved in our city too and provide momentum for our people to get involved outside of our church.”