I take so many things for granted

Whenever you visit a Rehab Center for the elderly or Nursing Home you are humbled. You walk away with great appreciation for what God has blessed you with including those lessons you learned from the residents themselves. They may not be aware of it but the residents teach and impact us in many ways.

For example, as I looked around the activities room after we had wheeled most of the residents in I noticed one patient who had come in on his own, he isolated himself from the others. Walking over towards this gentleman I quickly observed he was restricted to a walker that had a seat attached to it. His hair was messed up and he had not shaved.
I said, “Hello how are you doing this morning”.
He pulled out and handed me a pre-written note that said, “I cannot hear or speak”. He was carrying a bag on the side of his walker that had a note pad in it, grabbing the note pad I quickly wrote, “My name is Tim Lott and I am with Community Christian Church. We are here to serve you today is there anything you need or I might help you with”? He smiled and wrote, “No thank you I am fine. It’s nice to see your group here today”.

We continued to carry on a conversation with each other by using hand gestures and writing notes on the pad. I walked away wondering how I would be if I was in his place. Would I have been just as humble, patient and tolerable? He made me realize that I take so many things for granted. But the amazing thing is that that was only one resident of about 30 who I was able to interact with. Each taught me a lesson in life and I walked away a better person benefiting from my experience that day.

I was very impressed with the love and kindness our group showed to all of the residents. As a group, we set out to help others, but in reality, I believe it was all of us who served that benefited the most.
Tim Lott
It's All About People!

Children helping the Homeless!

I stayed at Church and organized the lunch totes, and what really struck me was the enthusiasm of the children and how hard they worked. They really got into the whole idea of helping the homeless and they didn't whine about having to work nor did they slack off one bit. They were really a part of the team. It was really wonderful to see!

Audrey

Giving back is a gift.

My name is Cindy Luckey and I participated in the Soldier Care Package ministry. This is such a wonderful cause!!

It was GREAT working together with a great group of people for such a wonderful cause. You could feel the love in the room. Giving back is a gift. You can't explain the feeling until you are given the opportunity to serve. It's wonderful and I will continue to serve as often as I am able to. I'm the one receiving the blessing.

Cindy

Airman

Bagram Air Base

Serving at Community Impact changed my life!

My name is Donna Huttenhoff - Team leader for Covenant Village

I definitely would recommend Covenant Village remain on the list of Community Impact events because it was such a positive experience for everyone who participated: residents, employees, and visitors as well as those of us from Community Christian Church.

There are so many things I could select as "GREAT", however, if one is to be mentioned, I would say, the greatest joy, the greatest moment, is to witness the transformation in an elderly person from lonely to joyous solely because of a visit from someone who cares.

Participating in Community Impact, specifically volunteering at Covenant Village, was and still is, one of the best things that has happened in my life.

When I signed up to serve at CV, my first thoughts were to check it out for my parents and considering that I enjoyed being around older people, it wasn't "work" or hard to do....just a little time out of my day. No big deal. Serving others was (and is) what Jesus called us to do, and I was gladly submitting. However, what I anticipated versus what I experienced, was so God!

As a volunteer group visiting a nursing/assisted living facility our main objective was to bring some smiles, happiness and hopefully, laughter to the residents. Many of these elderly men and women live alone, only being cared for by the employees ( who I might add do a superb job! ). Many of their families and/or friends live elsewhere or are deceased, hence few visits from the "outside" world. Rarely are children seen, so you can just imagine what our group resonated as we trouped through the doors. A mom and dad with young children, ladies ready to play balloon volleyball and hearts ready to pour out love and compassion. We brought LIFE and it was sweet. But it didn't stop there for me, I had an extra bonus, I met Mr. John Brooks. My new friend for life.

We all know God's timing is always perfect, but it amazes me how He orchestrates events and blesses our lives when we least expect it. John needed a friend and I needed to be a friend. You see, John's only daughter lives far away, he hasn't any other family here and has only one male friend that rarely visits. His world is the confounds of CV assisted living. He refers to his living arrangements as "assisted dying" which grieves my heart. I, on the other hand, have a husband, two children (both in college), aging parents, loads of activities and commitments, yet I was forever asking God...."what do you want me to do with my time?" John Brooks and his fellow residents were my answer. Serve the elderly. Give a smile, a hug, a chat, a cookie, a song....all the things we take for granted, but what so many of their lives are missing.

No matter how busy my days are, God always finds a way to add the time for my weekly visits to Covenant Village. It has been a blessing to me and to my family. My children and I took John to Rain Forest Cafe and truly, I do not know who enjoyed it more. This is what I want my son and daughter to see and know....God's love abounds, He gives it unconditionally to us and we are to share it with all.

My heartfelt thanks to Nancy May for her leadership and guidance of Community Impact. It is such a wonderful outreach that blesses all who participate....can't wait for the next one!!

From the bottom of my heart,
Your sister in Christ,
Donna

A Note from Iraq

Community Christian Church,

I would like you to know that we really appreciate the Care Packages that you sent. We received all the snacks, candy, chips, coffee/tea, hygiene products, lotion, dried fruit, dental supplies, cards, body wash, shampoo, slippers, sunscreen lotion.......too many to go on. The Bible, writing material and books were definitely appreciated. Reading and watching movies is always welcome during down time. Everything that was sent was definitely appreciated. Everything is so expensive these days and we received all that is needed, but thanks for asking if we needed anything else in the future. God Bless you and the all the volunteers that is keeping us in their prayers. Thank you also for shaping our world and our history by giving when you don't even have to. Please note that I opened up the box with a grateful heart. On behalf of the Contracting Team I would like to say thank you so very much for your generous contributions to all of us.

SFC Yanick Bard

Group Home for Children with Disabilities

Hi Nancy,

I just wanted to let you know that all who served at Broward Children Center had a great time, and were blessed, and a blessing. Everyone felt very comfortable with the kids, the workers there have great hearts.

I was able to pray with a teenage girl who was angry at her family for not visiting her for 7 years. Everything went very smoothly.

Thanks for your hard work,
Diane Amoroso

The residents loved our children!

We had a wonderful time on Saturday!
It was our family and the Smith family and we went to Springtree. Between the two families, we brought 5 children with us - 3 girls and 2 boys - and the residents LOVED interacting with the children. Some of them cried (happy tears!) and told us that they loved seeing our families and playing with the children. We played balloon volleyball with the residents in their wheelchairs and the children also did "shows" for them - singing, dancing, and karate moves! We made them pictures and cards and even beaded bracelets. The children loved the attention and the residents were so appreciative that we gave up our Saturday morning to be with them. One resident, Florence, made me promise that we would come back again.

I did promise, so we will have to put it on the calendar again!
-Lisa Hancock
The Hancock Family - Jim, Lisa, Christian and Dylan

God sent me where I needed to be!

When I arrived at Woodhouse 1 in Dania I realized that their blinds all needed to be repaired. Since that is the field I work in and I had parts in my van, I spent about 2 hours fixing their blinds! God sends you where you need to be. I also enjoyed playing the piano for the residents and they seemed to enjoy it as well. Thank you for all your time and effort that went into making this day a success for the community.

Thank you,
Tony Rao

Visiting the Elderly

Community Impact - May 31, 2008

I was so blessed by the King's granddaughter Erin, and Tanya's sons. The way these children interacted with the elderly was so touching. Tim Lott, who has worked for VITAS many years, set the example of interaction. Tanya has been around nursing homes all her life in that her mother worked at one when she was a child and she frequently went with her. She has also been taking her sons to nursing homes since they were small, so they were very familiar with what to do. Even though Kent appointed me the interim group leader, I was definitely the follower. I learned so much and was blessed so much that it's hard to describe. I could go on and on. I will definitely do this again!

Blessings,
Sharon

Great Team Work!

Hi Nancy,
I wanted to give my input on Community Impact, Saturday, May 31, 2008.
It was a glorious day! I was at the family in Tamarac who has been out of their home since Hurricane Wilma. Our team was a great team! I praise all of you! We helped paint the inside of her Condo, I stained a closet door and painted a wall the color she wanted (green) thus I have never painted before so I was challenged by this task and the job was well done. We were able to get her whole condo painted and fixtures were put up in both bathrooms and her screen door needed to be put on in the back porch. Another group, Neighbors helping Neighbors were there and they had told the owner that she needed to feed us (Which she could not afford). She left to go get us something to eat, I felt that wasn't right because we were there to serve God and didn't expect anything in return. She felt she needed to go because the other group leader said she needed to get us food. I was not able to stop her at that point, I spoke with John Chace and let him know the situation and he spoke with our team leader Jack Gresham. We called her on her cell phone and I spoke with her and told her our Church wants her to turn around and come back, that we wanted her to use the money on her daughter and herself or anything else she needed for her home, not on us. So she came back. It made me feel good about our fellow members of our Community doing God's work out of the goodness of our hearts and that we all agreed on the situation. God Bless you all for making a great Saturday and helping with all your hearts in our community. That what it's all about!
JESUS' HEART IN MINE
SUE