One of the the factors that took our two Gift Marts this year to a whole new level were partnerships. We had over 50 partnerships with for profit and not-for profits. For profits include Starbucks, Caribou, Meijer and Home Depot. Not for profits included other churches like Orchard Community Church who came through with 75 volunteers and over 800 toys! Thank you!
Here is part of an e-mail I received from another pastor who participated in this years Gift Mart: "Dave, My family and I (along with a couple of friends) helped out at the Gift Mart today in East Joliet. It would be an understatement to say we were blessed. It was really incredible to see all the toys that were donated and all the families that were blessed by what CCC did. Bob Lowe did an incredible job organizing everything. I participated in the Crowd Control team. I was stationed outside directing people into the parking lot. Everyone that was on my team was very helpful and friendly. I was freezing but it was the best (and most frigid) time I think I have ever had. The best moments were when people would come in to the parking lot and I would smile at them and they would smile back. Thanks for showing the love of Christ in East Joliet. I look forward to partnering with CCC in future activities."
This brings to mind the word of Peter Drucker who said, "partner or perish". If you got a dream, find good partners who share that dream.
Wow what a great impact you guys made, great job! Great wisdom there for today. I think we'll see more and more partnerships for the good of others as time goes on. Way to spearhead a healthy dose of that, Dave!
Posted by: Larry Boatright | December 15, 2008 at 11:01 AM
Larry, looking forward to you being in the Chicago area and doing more partnering.
Posted by: Dave Ferguson | December 15, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Dave,
Can you send me a template or document showing how you put this together and how it was done. I am totally interested in trying to pull this off in the Lehigh Valley!
IHL,
Richie
Posted by: Richie "Rich" Merritt | December 15, 2008 at 12:18 PM
We had fun in East Joliet???
Oh yeah - we DID!!!!
Posted by: Jeff | December 15, 2008 at 02:54 PM
Dave, collaborative partnerships are necessary for effective outreach in our inner-cities. The CORE Church did this recently with another inner-city ministry and with our local boys and girls club and Toys For Tots, as well as several local businesses that donated food, gift cards and other products, as we held our first annual kids Christmas banquet and toy store. If we had tried to do this all on our own it would not have been as sucsessful as it was. It is good to see you and others engaging in this same concept. It is a win/win arrangement for all involved
Posted by: Dave Lewis | December 16, 2008 at 08:48 AM
Dave, we tried to something like this in the Twin Cities where I am a pastor and it was a mild success. www.giveyourselfaway08.com
We partnered with some local non-profits and tried to engage our church to identify what they have (whether it be a skill, talent, passion, resource, etc) and connect them to people who had needs in our community (through a non-profit called Community Action Council). I'm curious if you have an more information or literature on exactly how this worked for you guys as we're trying to make ours better. Thanks
Posted by: Soulstice Community Church | December 16, 2008 at 09:12 PM