A Very Good Season for CCS

This time of year brings out the best in people.  Feelings of caring and sharing with others abound.  Last week, Tim & Bruce popped in and shared the story of their annual Christmas party.  The 500 guests all brought food or money for CCS in lieu of gifts.  Stan Mast, store manager for the Cobblestone Martin’s store in Elkhart, made them a deal, and the result was an incredible 5+ pallets of much-needed food for our pantry.

Just before Christmas we received a check for $10,000 from the Elkhart County Community Foundation, designated specifically to help people with their utilities. Our board of directors has since nearly matched that amount.

Then yesterday came THE BIG ONE: An anonymous local couple made a generous $100K gift to CCS to be used for emergency financial assistance and food! Follow this link to read about it:

Elkhart secret Santas give CCS a cool $100,000 – The Elkhart Truth – Elkhart, IN

It is a beautiful story. They have demonstrated the answer to “Who is my neighbor?”

Due to the big hearts of these incredible people, and others who have given in their own ways,  many of our Elkhart County neighbors will get much needed assistance. Every gift builds hope.

In the news…

The Elkhart Truth came and took pictures of our pantry on Wednesday, December 9 and were able to capture photos of a delivery of pet food. An anonymous donor provides us with pet food every Wednesday. Additionally, we recently received support from the Grainger Foundation which will help keep our shelves full during this holiday season!

We so appreciate the Elkhart Truth keeping our community informed of the happenings at Church Community Services. Without local support from the Elkhart Truth, the Grainger Foundation, and all the other local businesses, foundations, and individuals, we would be unable to serve our neighbors as we are.

As we draw nearer to Christmas, please keep Church Community Services in your thoughts and prayers. The holidays tend to bring more families through our doors than we are accustomed to. May we be able to serve those in need with enduring, compassionate hearts.

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS **COUPONS**

As we get closer to Christmas, we want to encourage this season of giving by offering coupons!

Let us know that you saw the Free Gift coupon and we’ll give you a free gift.

When a shopper lets us know that you were the person who referred them to Soup of Success, and provides your mailing address, we’ll send you a free hand stamped greeting card by the SOS women!  So tell your friends face-to-face, e-mail them, or call them and let them know to come to SOS to buy gift baskets and products and tell them to make sure we know YOU sent them our way!  This year, give the gift that gives back.  Purchase Soup Of Success products!

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.