Week 3
The third week of Heat Respite is complete. This week our team served nearly 1,000 people, approx. 200 per day. We gave out more than 1,500 bottles of water, served over 2,000 meals (breakfast, lunch, snacks) -- a big Thank You goes out to our amazing kitchen crew: Marlene, Lori, Devlin and Frank -- but we can't do it alone. We also had volunteers including Anne Gardner, Brent and Sarah Smith, and volunteers from Trinity Lutheran Church in Fountain Hills. This was Trinity's first service at Grace, so a special thanks to them for bringing 225 lunch sacks, 225 servings of potato salad, and 228 bottles of soda!
What does 'Heat Respite' mean to our participants (some names changed)?
Moon: “It’s a place to get out of the heat and to hydrate and rest. People who help here are amazing. They make coming here meaningful.”
Zoey: “The love the staff shows -- Paul & Sven put in so much to provide a safe place! I can not say how much it is appreciated! Grace Lutheran Church is such a sanctuary!”
Glennis: “Heat Respite means to me that people can take a break and get the rest that is needed, to escape the heat. Respite comes from the latin word respectiv -- we almost always use respite as a time of relief, not a place of relief.”
If you think you can help out in some way to support this program, want to donate, or just spend some time with our participants, there are many opportunities to do so. Just give us a call at (602) 551-9234 (Sven) or (480) 388-0225 (Paul), or email us at outreach@graceinthecity.com.
4th of July Celebration
Many of you celebrate the 4th of July with friends and family and barbeque. For many of our participants the people around them are their family, so together with Trevor's Vision, a non-profit organization from Peoria that hosts a meal every Thursday evening in our Hope Hall, we're planning a family-style B-B-Q for our community. The menu includes bratwursts from 'The Proper Beast' (a local Gilbert business), vegetables & salads, drinks. If you want to help out, have any time to spare, or have chips or other easy to hand out items, anything would be appreciated. Also, if you want to swing by and listen to a harmonica solo, or short comedy routine, please join us!
Gift Card Drawing
We're sponsoring a drawing at the halfway point of Respite (Friday July 20). We're looking for much needed bus passes (full or reduced fare), gift cards (Circle K, Subway, McDonald's, Einstein Brother's, Safeway, etc.) -- please help if you can! Maximum $10 cards.
Grace Room Update
With the amount of people we're serving, and the heat outside, we're running low on supplies for our clothing distribution room. Items most needed are:
T-shirts and tank tops (all sizes)
Men’s pants and shorts (30 to 36 waist)
Deodorant
Small toothpaste
Soap and body wash
Disposable razors
Small shaving cream
Men's and women's shoes and sandals, flip flops (all sizes)
Backpacks
Men's underwear (boxers, boxer briefs, briefs, all sizes)
Women's underwear, bras, sports bras (all sizes)
Socks (white and colored)
Books, Bibles, crossword puzzles, Sudoku, chess sets, etc.
Plastic shopping bags, reusable bags (you know you all have a bag full of plastic bags at home!)
Any donation is welcome, big or small!
Thank you and God bless you.