Our family decided to donate our gift to Operation Give Back (OGB). The organization was started by a family in our neighborhood to help Sycamore school students through tutoring, mentoring, literacy help, school supplies, a food pantry and holiday toys and food. The programs help kids in our local community to be successful in school and to not go hungry. Our family has volunteered with OGB and we felt that the gift, including our matching donation and my company’s match will multiply Good Shepherds and Gods grace threefold to make a bigger impact on our community.

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When our family opened up a check for $250, we were excited to do good right away, but struggled to agree on the right recipient. We wanted to find a local charitable cause… but had differing opinions from there. Our youngest child and animal lover wanted to help homeless pets. Other ideas involved a local food pantry and a child literacy program, and then came Hurricane Dorian… all worthy causes. Finally, we arrived at a consensus and allocated the check to Crayons to Computers (crayons2computers.org). This organization donated over $8 Million in school supplies last year through their Teacher Free Store on Tennessee Avenue where teachers near Cincinnati, including those from Taft Elementary, can come shop for free school supplies. We knew that for every $1 we donated, it creates $10 worth of school supplies and that last year alone the supplies supported over 2300 teacher shopping visits. With a 3rd & 6th grader in the house, we could all rally around reducing barriers which prevent kids from learning, and helping motivated teachers spark a passion for learning. To create a compounding effect, our family matched the GSLC donation, and submitted for “company matching funds” to essentially quadruple the impact on Crayons to Computers. Due to safety regulations in their warehouse environment, our kids were unable to physically participate in volunteer day at C2C, but they came up with another idea… making baked goods which they will deliver and personally thank the volunteers at Crayons to Computers. A final note about this charity, tying in with the recent sermon on the 10th leper (or perhaps “former-leper”)… the one who came back to thank and praise Jesus after being healed. We have been blessed to donate to C2C before, and were amazed by the number of thank-you notes which come back from teachers and students alike. Not trying to compare a mere cash donation to divine healing, but it warms the heart to read a hand-written note of thanks from a child who might otherwise not have the paper or pencil to write it.

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When Doug and I received our check for $100 from Good Shepherd we both kinda jumped real quick to donating to Matthew 25 or Camp Luther. Both are wonderful organizations but I suggested we spend a little more time in thought and prayer before donating. After a short time my cousin and a cause dear to her heart came to me. She lost her daughter a few years ago, she died suddenly and was only 44. She went to Princeton High school and always was very generous to a small organization there called Princeton Closet. They collected money, clothes,school supplies etc for underprivileged families in the district. The night before she died, my cousin wrote them a check for $500 and a note saying, “Please let me know if you need more.” So in Missy’s memory every fall we collect school supplies in her name. They call it The Missy 500 and my cousin (her mom) gets a family every Christmas from Princeton Closet to provide food and clothing and Christmas gifts for. So we decided to give our check plus our own matching funds to them so my cousin can have more to spend on her family. Thank you for inspiring us to open our eyes to a great need in the community.

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When we received the $250 check from the God’s Grace Your Hands initiative, we immediately thought of Operation Give Back, a local faith based educational charity. Their mission is to strive for educational equity and provide community outreach to students and families in need, inspiring all to realize their full potential and GIVE BACK to society. They serve children K-8 in the Sycamore School District with tutoring support and the geographic area with a Back to School Supply distribution (this year they gave a backpack of supplies to 512 children!) OGB’s other large endeavor is a Christmas Shop where needy families can obtain clothing and toys that they might not be able to provide for their children. They also have a food pantry and assist with sending food home with children in the local schools so they do not go hungry. Our family has supported this charity with school supplies, clothes, toys and participated in fundraisers but receiving a tour when I presented the money highlighted even more ways we can volunteer and support this worthy charity.

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