E G Ministries

It is so great at times to receive feedback from the community and those we assist. I have received some great reports lately and want to share then with you.

The backpack program has been going well and this week I had a chat with one of the schools overseers. One thought she shared with me was

"While the children receiving the backpacks might forget their homework or library books, they never forget to bring their backpack in so they can get their food for the next weekend."

She applauded the program and said she has never received any negative feedback about what we are doing.

She also passed on a note one of the recipients sent in. It said:

"I'm writing for my grand(child) who is in _____ grade. Of course she liked the cookies...... But, everything that was sent was greatly appreciated and we are thankful for it. It gives me a good feeling to know that there are so many thoughtful and caring people. God Bless you all."

It is great to see that we are making a difference with this program.

As far as helping those homeless in the community we have been seeing so many of our clients rehoused! Each time we are able to acheive this we feel like celebrating. This is a collaborative effort of so many including those who are the recipients. We are especially thankful for Connie at NEMCSA for her diligence to see that our clients are rehoused in a timely manner.

Thank you again for your prayers and financial support that enables us to continue doing what we can for those most in need in our communities!!

We are certainly looking forward to what God has for E G Ministries in 2013.

We have started the year with continuing to help families in our community who do not have the most basic needs that we just take for granted.

The weekend backpack feeding program is in full swing after the children had Christmas break. Our volunteers packed for the next two weeks already. We are getting good reports on this program from the schools.

Lately we have seen some of the families we are working with move into housing. We celebrate each one!! We are so thankful for those in the community who have assisted us in this.

We especially want to thank a special lady named Tona who has been very helpful with our families! She is certainly a God send for E G Ministries and we look forward to a long relationship working with her in the community!

Thank you again to all those who are helping us make a difference in the community. Your prayers, financial support and volunteering help us help others live well in rural communities!

All of us at E G Ministries wish all of you a very

Merry Christmas

We feel so fortunate that we have been called to serve those in need of so many things. I cannot tell you how much it means to us when we get a hug just for caring or see the tears fall when we reach out to give someone the simple things we all take for granted.

At this time when we give to those who we love and hold dear, remember to reach out to someone who doesn't have as much as you do.

God bless you and your family and thank you again for all the support and prayers you have given to us! We love and pray for you all!!!

The E G Ministries Team

We have been very busy since we last posted. The weekend backpack feeding program has been going very well. The feedback from the schools has been wonderful. One of the school workers mentioned that the children look forward to Friday.

The local paper covered the program and did a wonderful job of sharing this program with the community. We have many wonderful volunteers helping to get these backpacks into the children's hands.

October 22-26 we participated in a clothing/personal items drive with United Way and Roscommon County Poverty Reduction Initiative Committee for homeless student. We collected many, many items and are so thankful for the support of the community for these students. The items/gift cards will be distributed by the homeless liasons in Roscommon and Houghton Lake schools.

We have been putting up many people in motels under the motel voucher program. We are the service agengy for these vouchers for Roscommon and Crawford counties. We are happy to be able to help those most in need, but we do wish there was not a need for emergency housing for our homeless.

We also spoke to the youth group of St Michaels in Roscommon. These students held a sleep out to remember those homeless. They raised funds for E G Ministries (over $1300) to be used for homeless students. What a wonderful group of teens who have a true heart to help those most in need. Deb Harris, their leader, is an amazing leader turning their hearts to be involved in their community to help others.

These days have been quite busy, but we are thankful we are able to make a difference (even though small) in the lives of those most in need in our community!

Friday, October 5 the first of the weekend backpacks go home with 96 children in Roscommon County. These backpacks contain six meals (3 for Sat and 3 for Sunday) and will continue every weekend during the school year.

Everything went well with our first delivery of food on Tuesday (10/02/2012) and our volunteers filled the backpacks for one week and for the second week put the food in bags donated by Glen's Markets for the school to put in the backpack for the second weekend. Then every two weeks we will receive food on Tuesdays for the next two weekd.

Thank you again to all our supporters.

Check our our Weekend Backpack Program link see pics of our first week!!

Fall has officially arrived. Yesterday as we were driving we could not help but notice how brilliant the colors are this year! The reds are so intense they just jump out at you!

As I look at them I cannot help but think - "My Daddy made those!"

We are particularly excited that next week the backpacks begin going home with our communities children. 96 children in Roscommon county will receive a backpack with six meals in them to take home and share with their families.

Thanks for supporting us in this endeavor. We are still raising funds for next year!

We received a check from the Roscommon County Community Foundation for our Weekend Backpack program. We are well on the way to begin this program in coordination with Eastern Michigan Food Bank in October in Roscommon and Houghton Lake elementary schools. We will be sending backpacks full of six meals home on the weekend for 96 students in our county!

We are certainly greatful to all of the supporters of this program including:

Roscommon County Community Foundation on behalf of the Wade Family General Fund, the Roscommon County Kellogg Youth Fund and the Marilyn Brown Memorial Fund;

the Weyeraeuser Giving Fund;

the Shrader Foundation;

many local civic organizations;

local church organization;

many individual donations;

Glen's Roscommon store for donation of bags for the program.

We are looking forward to working with local volunteers to fill the backpacks and carry out this program!!!

We received a check from the Roscommon County Community Foundation for our Weekend Backpack program. We are well on the way to begin this program in coordination with Eastern Michigan Food Bank in October in Roscommon and Houghton Lake elementary schools. We will be sending backpacks full of six meals home on the weekend for 96 students in our county!

We are certainly greatful to all of the supporters of this program including:

Roscommon County Community Foundation on behalf of the Wade Family General Fund, the Roscommon County Kellogg Youth Fund and the Marilyn Brown Memorial Fund;

the Weyeraeuser Giving Fund;

the Shrader Foundation;

many local civic organizations;

local church organization;

many individual donations;

Glen's Roscommon store for donation of bags for the program.

We are looking forward to work with local volunteers to fill the backpacks and carry out this program!!!

It is now official!!

Our Weekend Backpack program for children will be starting in the fall not only at Houghton Lake Collins Elementary but we are now able to provide the Backpacks for children at Roscommon Elementary!!!

This is all because of an alliance we have made with Eastern Michigan Food Bank through their Feeding America program. They recently contacted us and wanted to be a part of our program. Not only does this provide a vendor for all the food, we have the ability now to expand our program county wide.

Thanks for all who have supported this program and continue to support it.

We will be contacting volunteers soon to help with packing and distributing the backpacks.

Welcome Summer!! We had such an amazing spring I cannot wait to see what summer holds for us. We are having very hot days but the nights have been cool. Great for growing a garden!!

We are excited about some of the changes that are taking place in one of the collaborative groups we belong to. Voices for Action is now known as Roscommon Poverty Reducation Initiative (RPRI). We have completely reorganized the group and there is alot of new involvement and ideas about the direction we are going in as a group.

What excited EGM about this is the focus of this group is going to be homeless youth ages 14 to 25. This is a vulnerable group without alot of options open to them. We are very young in studying the aspects we want to focus on but the excitement of those involved is growing as we go forward to better our community.

If this is something that you would be interested in getting involved in just email me at eg.ministry@yahoo.com

Have a great summer!!