Category: Outreach

Posted on

We need your help today in Hollygrove

Simply put, we are going to need your help today. Beginning Monday all New Orleans area public schools will be closed which will greatly limit our kids’ access to food.  According to NOLA.com, “Citywide, 84% of public school students are considered economically disadvantaged, meaning they qualify for free and reduced-priced lunches, and many rely on school to get enough to eat.”

In addition to the snacks and take-home lunches we provide to the more than 100 children who come to tutoring, Jesus Project also assists Senior Citizens and the working poor in our community. The Seniors, who are mostly shut-in, and the working poor whose paychecks are being cut are in urgent need of help. 

We will start to distribute food and disinfectant supplies to our community on Monday, at the latest. 

You are the backbone of our work in Hollygrove and your financial support allows us to be the “boots on the ground.”  If you can help, click the link below to give online. 

Click to give food to families

In addition, we will be sending a text-to-give option in the next few moments.

We are truly grateful for the opportunity to serve our community, and grateful for your willingness to help.

Blessings,

Rachel, Sarah and Debra 

Posted on

Happenings At Apple Learning Street

I wanted to quickly update you on some of the happenings at Apple Street Learning Center and Jesus Project Ministries. The fall season is flying by, and we are seeing amazing transformations.

“Yesterday during tutoring: some of our students were so on top of their schoolwork that they decided to help tutor the younger ones!!!! It wasn’t just one or two shining helpers, there was four or five! I love being back in the flow of things, thank you Jesus!” – Alexander (ASSISTANT OUTREACH COORDINATOR/ MISSION TEAM & SITE COORDINATOR / JSTEP LEADER)

A quick story – One of our young men “TR” is having a break-out year. Last year when he would come to tutoring as a third grader he would say, “I can’t read!” Many days he would just shut down and sit with his arms folded in defeat. Every time he would say he couldn’t read our tutors would encourage him and say, “We are going to teach you to read.” It has been a hard fought battle, but this year he has been overcoming and succeeding in school. Recently, he has been named Student of the Week twice! What a miracle to watch him work on reading, to finish his math homework and be named Student of the Week. This is only possible because of amazing partners who stand with our ministry.

Alexander helping a student with his homework

This is the a brief list of what we are accomplishing this fall:

  • Feeding hungry kids – We all hate to think about children going hungry or eating junk food.  Thanks to your generous help we are able to keep children from going to bed hungry. Every day we provide healthy after-school snacks and a take home bag to 40 plus children.  
  • Tutoring tender minds – This is a record breaking year for tutoring.   We have the highest number of children ever coming to the tutoring center. So far this year we have had 76 children.  We are running out of room, but we are not running out of enthusiasm.  I sharpen dozens of pencils each day.  Every single pencil has been provided by our generous donors….. thank you so much!  I like to say, at Apple Street Learning Center we sharpen pencils so we can sharpen minds.
  • Upcoming events: The Cajun Thanksgiving Outreach is on November 23rd at 1:00 pm on the corner of Apple and Cambronne Street, New Orleans.  If you would like to help provide a family with a turkey and a thanksgiving food box please click the blue button below to donate. We will provide a dinner for a family in your name. $45.00 feeds a family of four a feast.
  • Christmas Party and Toy Give-Away is on December 14th at 1:00 pm.  

Thank you again for all of your help over the years.  We have an amazing surprise to tell you about soon.  Stay tuned, it is exciting!

Blessings,

Debra

PS: Did you know that Apple Street Learning Center is recognized by the Louisiana State Board of Education as an approved Tutoring Center? 

Posted on

You Have Made Our Season Bright

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for all of your help this year.  Look what we have been able to do in December alone:

  • Over 340 children came to the Christmas Party and received gifts
  • 30 children were warmed up with much needed coats
  • 45 kids were tutored just this week alone 
  • Hundreds of healthy snacks and hundreds of take home sandwiches have been served

We are just a few days away from Christmas.  The last thing on our holiday to-do list is food boxes for  struggling families. Knowing people have food brings me such comfort and joy when I am celebrating with my family and friends.  This year we have 30 families on our at-risk list. If you want to help feed a family it costs $45.00, but any amount is appreciated.   The box will include a card with your name, wishing the family a Happy Holiday.

 All of us here at JPM are so grateful to you.  You have helped us change the lives of so many people.  We pray that you have a delightful holiday season with your family and friends.

Many blessings and Merry Christmas from Jesus Project Ministries,

Sarah, Rachel, Alexander, Ivory and Debra

Posted on

Giving Tuesday Was A Huge Success! Thank you!

Thanks so much to all who partnered with us on Giving Tuesday. You made such a difference!  We raised $12,080 which is 67% of our goal.  We are hopeful that Facebook will match some of the donations, which will bring us closer to our target of $18,000.

In a few hours, our team will be headed out to buy Christmas presents for over 350 children. The budget for each child is $20. It is only because of you that we can put smiles like these on children’s faces. Along with the gifts, everyone who comes to the Christmas Party and Toy Give-Away enjoys food, crafts, and some good ole fashioned Christmas cheer. If you are nearby on December 14th, please come join the fun!

In addition to the Christmas party and gifts, a portion of the money raised on Tuesday will provide for a subscriptions to the Lexia Core 5 reading program.  Each students subscription costs $25 annually. This is a nationally recognized reading enhancement program.  We see tremendous improvement in children’s reading skills when they use this program. Thank you so much for helping improve children s reading skills.  

We will let you know if we received any matching dollars.  According to Facebook, we will be notified in January.

Even though Giving Tuesday is officially finished, your contribution to the lives of the children in Hollygrove will continue.

Rachel, Sarah, Alexander, Ivory and the rest of our team are so grateful for all that you do throughout the year, we just want to say thanks again.

Blessings,

Debra

Posted on

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, while delivering food baskets financed by our generous sponsors, we stopped at the house where “Al” lives.  Al comes to tutoring during the school year as well as summer camp.  He is one of the sweetest, best-mannered, lovable nine-year-olds you will ever meet.  Al lives with his “godmother” Ruth because his mom is incapable of caring for him.

As we delivered their food basket, Ruth overflowed with thanks and praise for all Jesus Project and Apple Street Learning Center have meant to her and Al.  She thanked us for the tutoring, the snacks, the nightly take-home sandwiches and the help with school projects.  She recalled how much Al enjoyed summer camp and all he learned there.

I wish you could have heard Ruth’s words firsthand.  Her gratitude was over-the-top.  It is truly your generous support that makes this possible.  Al and Ms. Ruth are just an example of the children and families you have helped this year through your generosity:

  •  83 students have been tutored in the past three months
  • 105 children came to the free summer camp
  • 350 children received the backpacks and school supplies they needed
  • 43 families – which is well over 200 people received all of the fixins they need for a Thanksgiving dinner
  • 200 people had a beautiful time at the Cajun Thanksgiving last Saturday
  • 5000 of healthy snacks for the summer camp and after-school program
  • 12 JSTEP teenagers learned how to lead and the value of money by money provided for stipends for their summer Junior Internship program

 Thanksgiving is a time to reflect, in gratitude, for those who make a difference in our lives. So we thank you and wish you and your loved ones a very happy Thanksgiving.

Blessings,

Debra, Rachel, and Sarah

Posted on

Summer Bible Camp Opening – July 15, 2019!

We are so happy to report that all is well in New Orleans and we are reopening Summer Bible Camp today.  The missions team that was supposed to join us had to cancel in consideration of the storm that hit Louisiana.  We are excited because we are calling on our own JSTEP team to lead.  This week will be a great test of how well we have trained them.  We know they are going to rise to reach our expectations. 

We are busy and behind in planning for our annual Back 2 School outreach and we truly need your help. Thank you so much for your help last year.  Because of your generosity in 2018, over 350 children started the year with the school supplies they needed. We are planning for the same number of children this year.  With your help, the first day of school will be more hopeful and less stressful than ever before.

As of today, we have received contributions to support 100 children. This is a blessing and we are tremendously grateful. That leaves us with 250 children still in need. We hope that you might be able to help us reach the same number of children again this year as we did last year. The Back 2 School Outreach is scheduled for August 1st. It only takes $15 to help a child get the supplies they need. Every single dollar will bring us one step closer to our goal this year!

Thank you again for all of your support.  We are so blessed to be able to help the families and children from Hollygrove start the school year with the essentials they need to be successful.

Blessings,

Debra and Rachel

Ps – Please forward this to a friend and help us spread the word.

Posted on

Rezilient Kidz

Maybe you’re like me and you find raising highly capable kids a challenge, but we are so fortunate because experts from Rezilient Kidz are going to train and equip us.  We are going to be able to implement a program called Raising Highly Capable Kids into our community.  

A few months ago Jesus Project applied for and received a grant for free training and materials for this parenting program called Raising Highly Capable Kids.   We are so grateful to have this opportunity to not only help the community of Hollygrove, but the Rezilient Kidz organization will provide the training and materials for other similar organization throughout New Orleans.  So, for the next 18 months, we can help train and equip parents for free.  What an amazing opportunity to affect the future!  Yesterday Rezilient Kidz held a vision casting meeting for the New Orleans area, and 12 different organization came to hear all about the training.

This program is a 13-week training session for parents. It was created by Rezilient Kidz, an offshoot of Focus On The Family.  The program is based on the “40 developmental assets” which people need to be effective adults.  The “40 developmental assets” were identified by research done by the Search Foundation.  The Raising Highly Capable Kids program provides parents and caregivers interactive, practical, hands-on tools to become more effective at raising children.  The impact of helping parents be better at parenting cannot be overstated.  

We are so excited to be able to help other organizations in the area get these materials.  This program is available in Spanish and English.  We will do both programs in Hollygrove.  We are just so excited about the opportunity to help parents because when we help the parents we are helping our kids.

We could really use some help with our ongoing budget.  If you are able to contribute any amount, that would be a blessing.  Click the link and you will be transported to our new and improved website. You can help us change the lives of children, and change the destiny of generations to come.

Home

Blessings,

Debra and Rachel

Posted on

Happy New Year! A look back on 2018

2018 has been a great year for Jesus Project Ministries!  It was your partnership, including prayers, financial support, voting and volunteerism that made it possible! We are so grateful to the Lord for you!

Take a look at some highlights from 2018!

You voted and we won $30,000 in the Gulf Coast Community Bank contest!

Summer Camp – 9 weeks, 125 kids, 230 people on mission, 10 interns, 10 JSTEPers, and 5 staff had a great summer of faith and fun! 

Over 100 kids were tutored during 32 weeks of tutoring.  10 faithful volunteers helped complete thousands of hours of homework.

Snacks – because of you we were able to serve 3575 snacks.  2145 during tutoring and 1430 during summer camp!  Thousands of PBJ and ham and cheese sandwiches were served as well.

You helped give 350 children the supplies they needed to go back to school!

Over 275 children had a great time at the Christmas party.  Everyone child received  Christmas gifts and enjoyed the party.  

We continue to help strengthened the neighborhood with bi-weekly bible studies and prayer gatherings.  

All of the fixins for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were given to over 50 families! What a blessing.

We were given a new portable building!  We will use it for all kinds of events.  We still need more room.  Please keep praying!

These JSTEP kids had so much fun when we took them away to camp.  Most of them had never roasted marshmallows on a campfire.  The camp was life changing!

The JSTEP program was launched to build leaders.  This is a photo of the JSTEP young men, but young ladies are included as well.

Posted on

Cajun Thanksgiving 2018

Check Out Pictures from This Years Cajun Thanksgiving!

I am sitting here reflecting on the past 13 years and the Cajun Thanksgiving event.  Every year since 2005, we have been joined by a small dedicated group of senior citizens from Hollygrove who help cook an amazing meal  to help the community.

This year our hearts are in turmoil as we pray for our friend Bob Quiette. Tomorrow will be the first time in 14 years that we will fire up the turkey fryers without Bob overseeing them, or without his wife Charlotte stirring the gumbo pot.  Bob was returned to the ICU unit  again today.  He has been battling illness most of this year.  We would sincerely appreciate it if you would take a few moments and pray for Bob and Charlotte. They have been the anchor of this event since its inception, and have worked so hard each year to make this a special day for the community.

We spent the day today prepping the turkeys.   We certainly missed Bob.  He has spearheaded this process each year.  The experts always make things look easy. We struggled today without him. Tomorrow we will feed hundreds of our neighbors.  At least 25 families will go home with a food box full of the food they need to feed their family a delicious Thanksgiving meal.

Every year when I sit down with my family and friends on Thanksgiving, I take comfort knowing the people around me are not going hungry.  If you are able to help provide a family with a Thanksgiving food box please click the link below.  Forty-five dollars will feed an entire family, but any amount will help.

Thanks so much for praying for Bob.  We will keep you informed about how he is doing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Rachel and Debra

https://www.instagram.com/p/BqQi1fRl-Fg/

 

Posted on

Back 2 School 2018

We had a fantastic day!  As usual, families lined up long before the gates opened.  The clouds started to roll in, but the rain didn’t.   The temperature dropped to a lovely 87 degrees, the kids breezed in, and the fun started!  Smiling faces were all we could see. The face-painting, balloon animals, hot dogs, nachos and sno-balls made this a celebration for the kids.  The sno-ball and the nacho team had their hands full keeping up with the demands.

The highlight of the day was watching each one of the students get a bag and start down the supply line.  Paper and notebooks first, crayons, markers and colored pencils, scissors and sharpeners… and on down the line they went, laughing and smiling.  We loved loved loved seeing these children happy about school. We know It set the tone for their school year.

We have a lot of photos from the event on our Facebook profile.  If you are not a friend of JesusProjectMin, please send a request so you can see the impact you are making.

We want to say thank you again for your kindness and your support!

Blessings,
Debra, Rachel and Sarah

Proudly powered by WordPress