Hi all! Happy Tuesday! Last month my church hosted their annual fundraiser, a fashion show, for our Love Thy Neighbor ministry. This ministry began 16 years ago after a group of youth went a mission trip to San Francisco, discovered a program that fed thousands of homeless neighbors daily, and they decided they wanted to recreate a similar program in Winston Salem. Not only did those youth want to fed the homeless, they wanted to love on them and make them feel known.
One Sunday each month we invite our homeless neighbors into the church for a cooked meal, access to a medical clinic and prescriptions, a hospitality gift, and fellowship. It’s such a special program because it’s entirely led by youth. The Love Thy Neighbor Leadership Team, which I am a part of, meets before each event to plan and organize all of the details. We then host each event and serve our neighbors with help from the middle and high school, our church doctors, and anyone else who wishes to participate.
Love Thy Neighbor aims to provide a family that most of our neighbors don’t have. They feel seen and loved each time they step into the church door, not only by the church, but by God. We hope to love on our neighbors in a way that makes them feel wanted and seen. The amount of pure joy I see in the neighbors each month completely overwhelms me. I have watched Love Thy Neighbor change lives over the past four years and it’s just remarkable.
To fund this event each month, we host a fashion show once a year. This year, I was the co-chair of the fashion show and it was a blast! It was a lot of work, but so worth it! All of the models’ fashions came from Great Outdoor Provisions and Monkee’s of the Village. Shout out to the models, you all looked stunning! We also organized a video, live auction, and paddle raise. By the end of the day we had surpassed our goal of money raised by quite a bit! I am so proud of how it turned out, so thank you to everyone involved! We could not have made it happen without you all. Everything down to the ribbons, the charcuterie boxes, the balloon arch, the drinks, and the delicious cookies was just perfect.
If you would like to donate to the Love Thy Neighbor ministry, please click the link below. I cannot tell you how much it would mean to me, the entire Love Thy Neighbor program, and most importantly our homeless neighbors. Thank you so very much!
xoxo, Joanna
Link to donate! Under FUND, click Love Thy Neighbor in the drop-down menu in order for your donation to go to that ministry!
You look AMAZING!!!!!! What a great cause and event.
Thank you so much!!
What an incredible ministry and we are so proud of all you do and give!
Thank you!!