Gift Basket Open House–This Saturday!

Join us this coming Saturday, November 7, from 9am to 2pm for Soup of Success’ first gift basket open house of the 2009 Christmas Season! We have many gift baskets pre-assembled for those of you who are looking to stop in, grab a basket and go; but we will also be assembling personalized gift baskets for those of you who don’t see quite what you’re looking for in our pre-assembled baskets.
In addition to gift baskets our products will be available for individual sale. If you’re not sure which of our products you like best you won’t have to worry—samples will be available of all SOS products.
Hope to see you there!

Pictures!

Thank you to all who participated in the Super Structure competition! Whether you helped with gathering food, constructing the structures, or came out to Soup it Up! and voted, we were thrilled with the results and thankful for the variety of participation!

Below are pictures of each structure. Be sure to click on the pictures so you can see the structures in more detail!

Chinese Take-Out (Concord High School-Student Council, National Honor Society, and Key Club)

Noah’s Ark (Trinity United Methodist Church-Grace Group and Church Ladies)

Toilet (Abbie & Melissa)

American Flag (Trinity United Methodist Church-Searchers Class)

Cross (Trinity United Methodist Church-Senior Youth)

Soup of Success Logo Mug (First Congregational Church-MOR/ryde)

Amusement Park (Nicki)

MVS letter walls and Mennonite Peace Dove (Mennonite Voluntary Service)

Castle (Crazy Love)

Couch Potato Watching TV (Sunnyside Mennonite Church-Junior Youth)

Hospital Nursery (Trinity United Methodist Church-Eighth Grade Girls)

It’s never to early to begin making plans for your entry into next year’s Super Structure competition!

Soup it Up!

The excitement began Friday, October 9th at 9am when the first group to build a Super Structure arrived and started construction. We had been anticipating ten structures, but had received word at the last minute that there would be an additional structure and we were thrilled!
When all was said and done there were eleven incredible structures! Some were big, some were small, but in all 3,400 pounds of food pantry items were donated to our pantry between the structures and the additional donations that people brought to the event!
On Saturday during the event people were able to vote on their favorite structure by putting money in water jugs placed in front of each structure. Every dollar counted as one vote. The winning structure was created by Grace Group & Church Ladies from Trinity United Methodist Church with $1,517 worth of votes! Their structure was Noah’s Ark, complete with pairs of Zebra cookies, Teddy Grahams, chicken and a biscuit crackers, goldfish crackers, animal crackers, and cans of tuna and salmon on their way into the Ark.
People poured out their pockets and the total proceeds were over $11,000 from the meal donations, cash and carry table, votes on structures, SOS product sales, and sponsorships!
Thank you so much to everyone who was involved with Soup it Up! We could not have had a successful evening without the volunteers that worked on Friday, Saturday, and the weeks leading up to the event; without the sponsorships from Barnes & Thornburg, Texas Roadhouse, Oaklawn, Trinity United Methodist Church, and an anonymous sponsor; without the local businesses and individuals who donated items for the cash and carry table; without the individuals who provided desserts; and without those who donated food pantry items and constructed the Super Structures!

(Photos of Super Structures coming soon!)

Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

Dr. Seuss wrote a wonderful book entitled “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” It is a popular graduation gift for middle and high school graduates as well as college grads. Here at Soup Of Success, we read this book in the opening weeks of our programming. It really is amazing how this simple childrens book can have such a profound impact on a person as they look to their future.

Our Soup of Success job and life skills training program participants and staff are beginning to eagerly anticipate their upcoming graduation on October 2. The women are currently in the process of finishing up their job shadowing experiences and writing their “Future Stories.”

Graduation is always a bittersweet time for participants, staff and volunteers alike. While we are sad to see them go, we are excited for the women to take the next step in their journey into employment or further education. Staff have greatly enjoyed our time getting to know the women in this group, watching the “aha!” moments, supporting the struggles, and celebrating the achievements and advancements.

The women themselves are experiencing a sort of “anxious excitement” which is not at all unlike previous SOS classes. They are looking forward to pursuing their interests and new directions, but are also concerned about the current economic climate in our county, and the fear of the unknown. We remind them regularly that they are always welcome at Church Community Services and that our computer and staff resources will always be available to them. They will always have a home base here with us.

SOS Debuts Greet Cards, Gets Volunteers, and Sews Quilt Blocks

Mary Ann Cain & Marsha Watson have a talent and passion for card making. They, along with friends from Trinity UMC, collected a variety of stamps, ink pads, papers and a few other items to be used for the new SOS Greet Card line. Yesterday Mary Ann and Marsha were able to give a tutorial for basic stamping instructions and specific instructions for several holiday cards that will be sold individually or in packs of six.
Greeting Card Wish List:
Tombo permanent adhesive tape runners, Mini Glue Dots, gift certificates to Hobby Lobby & Michael’s Arts & Crafts stores.

Yesterday we were also lucky enough to have a group of students from Goshen College come volunteer with us. They were participating in the Goshen College Celebrate Service Day. Our SOS Production Manager was able to put most of them to work moving and arranging things between two of our storage garages.

The remaining students helped with the food pantry and cleaning a printer that had quit working several weeks ago.

Today Brenda Miller and Darlene McKinney joined the SOS women in helping them with some quilt blocks they’ve been working on. Despite the sewing portion of the SOS program being scaled back due to demands of other portions of the class, the women still receive assistance with mending and altering pieces of clothing.The quilt blocks that they are currently working on will be sewn together to make a banner that will eventually be used to decorate the SOS classroom.
Banner made by SOS Class of 2006

SOUP IT UP!

What: Soup It Up!
When: Saturday, October 10. Lunch served 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Supper served 5 to 7 p.m.
Where: Trinity Life Center, at the rear of Trinity United Methodist Church, 2715 E. Jackson Blvd, Elkhart, Indiana.
Food: Hearty meal of soup and salad featuring Soup of Success products. Desserts from local chefs. SOS mixes and soup-to-go for purchase as well.
Cost: Free-will offering for CCS.
What else: Super Structures competition.
Entertainment: Live music while you eat.

Our annual fundraiser is fast approaching and this year it’s called “Soup It Up” and will feature lunch, supper, items for sale at a cash and carry table, and Super Structures. Super Structures are sculptures or buildings that community teams will design and build from food pantry items. After the winner is announced, all the food construction materials will go to Church Community Services’ pantry to feed families in need.
We encourage organizations from youth, church, and school groups as well as professional design firms to get involved, either as a team, to coach a team, or to help collect the pantry items necessary for the design. This opportunity can be what you make it: educational, team building, a chance to serve the community, and great PR, too.
Registrations have been slowly trickling in, but we’d really love to have enough structures to be able to build an entire community of structures!

“Soup It Up!” Flyer
About Forming A Super Structures Team
Super Structures Guidelines
Super Structures Registration Form

We’re Back!

We will now be updating the blog on a much more regular basis! CCS has also joined Facebook and Twitter so be sure and find us on both by searching for CCSElkhart.

The Move Was Incredible!

It occurred to me today, that I never told the story of our move… better late than never, eh?


On April 4, we moved into Phase 1 of our facility with the help of over 150 fabulous volunteers in our community. Trucks and people literally poured into the parking lots of both buildings and miraculously, we were able to get everything from the old building and into the new in just over 4 hours!

Special thanks go out to the following:

* Bethany Swoape – for teaching us all of her amazing organizational tips for a smooth move.

* Chuck Miller and crew from The Paint Spot and many volunteers from Nappanee Missionary Church who provided several BIG trucks to move the big stuff (and people who knew how to drive them!)

* Moxie Robinson who took great pictures and documented the day!

* Trinity UMC Youth who spent 2 entire days here the following week (Spring Break) helping us get everything into place.

All of these people made it possible for us to open our doors on Monday April 13, after only 5 short – yet busy – days of closing.

Thank you Elkhart!

Moving Help Needed!

We are moving ahead in faith and hope! Church Community Services is moving into its new home!

Contractors and volunteers, under the very conscientious guidance of Bruce Barwick, Project Manager, have been hard at work the past six months readying this building for staff to move into. The move has been made urgent by the fact that our current building has been sold and we need to vacate by April 30.

This move only represents the completion of Phase I. About the time we move ground will be broken for Phase II, a 4,000 sq ft addition to house a new larger food pantry and SOS production area. For this to become reality we still need to raise $400,000 to reach our $1 million capital campaign goal. Cash donations or multi-year pledges for the building may be sent to CCS, P.O. Box 2346, Elkhart, IN 46515. The campaign will go to churches and the public after Easter.

What: Moving Day
Where: From our old facility (629 S. Third St. Elkhart) to our new facility (907 Oakland Ave. Elkhart)
When: Saturday, April 4 (Please plan to arrive between 9 am – noon)

We need people to help with:
- loading & unloading (mostly boxes and some furniture)
- dismantling and moving shelving units
- reassembling shelving units

If you would like to assist with our move, please contact Sharon at (574) 264-3396.
Thank You!

5638!

Trinity United Methodist Church held it’s annual “Feed The Need” Stuff-a-Truck for CCS this weekend and collected 5638 items of food for the Pantry! “March Madness – Getting mad about hunger in Elkhart County” was the theme of the drive that had members collecting mostly boxed food items for the past few weeks.

The Sunday School kids focused on cereal boxes for the drive. “Children lined the halls with their favorite types of cereal to give to children in the community who might not have any,” stated Michelle Lau, Director of Children’s Ministries. Food was also collected by community kids that were involved with the popular “Upwards Basketball” and “Upwards Cheerleading” that recently ended it’s season in Trinity’s Life Center.

It was an exciting weekend as congregation members dropped food off before and after all 4 worship services. The drive also caught the attention of MSNBC correspondents who are in town! They not only interviewed people, but also lent a hand in loading and unloading the truck at Church Community Services.