~Monday~ This is an excerpt of an email I sent out to the people in the organization in which I work.
If you’re looking for a worthy organization for a holiday gift, I can’t more highly recommend any one than Love Wins Ministries!
Greetings friends and colleagues,
I put forth Love Wins Ministries as one of OIT’s Holiday Giving Projects this year, as I did in 2009. All of you were so generous in that campaign in donating all these things! (Check out that impressive list!) Thank you for that! I hope you will be just as generous and enthusiastic this time around!
Love Wins has really grown since 2009; they now have a physical location and a couple of people on their staff to help out Hugh Hollowell, who used to do it all on his own. Back in 2010, he posted a list of things he’d done himself in the last 48 hours, which included:
- Negotiated with a landlord on behalf of someone else.
- Held a crying mother of two who was facing the fact the kid’s dad had left her.
- Visited a lawyer with someone to determine the status of a lawsuit.
- Had a meeting with three other pastors to work on ways faith communities can help with the coming post-traumatic stress disorder crisis that is going to hit when all the soldiers come home.
- Tried, unsuccessfully, to track down someone who was arrested while I was out of town.
- Read the other 11 things he did within that 48 hours…
It might be surprising that people without homes are still thankful, but Hugh recently shared gratitude expressed by some of the people who are benefiting from the work of Love Wins:
- Devon is thankful for life and waking up.
- Antonio is thankful that people on the streets have Love Wins, for food in the fridge, and for Hugh and Rachel being able to reach people.
- Christy is thankful for being able to focus on plans, for the upcoming holiday, Hugh’s dream, volunteers, eye sight, and friends.
- Read more expressions of gratitude from the people who have benefited from the work of Love Wins…
Another part of Hugh’s work is in making all of us aware of the language we use, and the stereotypes we have, of people without homes. Recently, he “challenged” the media in regards to an article that was published in the News & Observer. If you’re curious about how he pointed out what amounts to “institutionalized discrimination of the homeless,” read his blog entry about it: Stop Hobophobia.
And, finally, since it’s Cyber Monday, if you’re on amazon.com, Love Wins has a wishlist, or if you’re interested in a little bit bigger of a contribution this year, they have a Christmas Catalog that you can shop from.
Thank you so much for considering LWM during this year’s OIT Holiday Giving Projects.
For any of my non-work local friends who want to donate to Love Wins for the holidays, I’d be happy to meet you to pick up anything you might have for them.
At the very least, consider all those soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and lotions from hotel rooms that you have crammed in a drawer. Or, here’s a shopping list you can print or send to your phone for your next shopping trip out.
If you want to remove “the middle man” (that would be me) you can drop off anything you want to donate at 707 West Jones St, Raleigh. Their website is at: http://lovewins.info/.