August 2019
I cannot say it enough... we couldn't do any of what we do without you and your support. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
July 2019
I want to personally say thank you to each and every volunteer that took time out of their busy summers to serve. Thank you to the groups that gave up their Sundays, thank you to the faithful volunteers that serve all year, and thank you to our special summer interns and volunteers. You guys are more appreciated than you will ever know! May God bless each and everyone of you abundantly!
John Gibson, Executive Director
June 2019
Summer is in full swing at Serving You Ministries!
June has passed as quickly as it came this year! And although the summer is flying by, it has been an amazing one so far!
During the month of June, Serving You Ministries provided $8,170 in emergency utility relief. Through our client-choice food pantry, Merchant Market, we helped over 262 families with food and hygiene items this past month.
That brings the grand total of people that received help on their power or water bill, heard the life-changing news of the Gospel, or fed their families through our market to over 600 people! Isn't God good?
So thank you, our faithful volunteers, donors, and friends! None of that would be possible without you!
Our Sunday Serve Day crews this month were from First Baptist Church Trussville and Christ Church United Methodist. We are so thankful of them donating their Sunday afternoons to serve their brothers and sisters in Christ through Merchant Market.
If you are interested in having your Sunday School Class, Life Group, or Youth Group come serve, email kathy.woods@servingyou.org to sign up!
Don't forget about Serving Younited 2019! It is just around the corner and it's not too late to sign up!
As followers of Christ, we have been called to the mission field. Some of us are called to go into areas far from Alabama, but we are all commissioned to share Christ wherever we are... starting right here in Birmingham!
The Good Samaritan walked 10 miles to Jericho, traveling on what scholars believe was a very dangerous route. Many of us live just 10 miles from Birmingham. If we aren't careful, it becomes easy to drive through or even around the city to avoid the needs of our neighbors.
For this one week, let us all do something for those who live in our hometown.
Thank you again for making June such a great month at Serving You! I cannot wait for next month's recap so we can talk about the mission trip to Italy, our summer college interns, and our sweet high school volunteers from the YMCA... plus SERVING YOUNITED WEEK updates!
In Christ,
John Gibson
Executive Director
April 2019
2019 is flying by! The winter has officially passed and we are barreling towards summer! And with each passing day, new and exciting things are happening at Serving You Ministries!
During the month of April, Serving You Ministries was able to assist with $9,373.34 in electric, water, and gas assistance. Our food bank served 264 families. This brings the total people who visited our building, were loved on well, and heard the power of the Gospel to over 600 people in the month of April! Isn't God good?
A special thank you goes out to the groups that volunteered for Serve Sunday during the month of April!
We had (from top to bottom) Rebirth Christian Fellowship Student Ministry and TWO DIFFERENT groups from First Baptist Church Trussville!
If your small group is interested in serving here, please let us know! We love sharing what we do with our church and business partners!
Also, the last of week of April, we were blessed with visitors from Michigan!
Moriah Ministries spent the week working on homes across the city building decks and doing home repairs, helping to complete the office expansion/build at Serving You Ministries, running Merchant Market, and loving on our Hope Inspired Ministries students.
It has been such a blessing to have them!
We want to thank each and every one of you for your commitment, your prayers, and the gifts you give to help Serving You Ministries do all that we do. It is a blessing to know and work along side each and every one of you.
Your Friend,
John Gibson
Executive Director
March 2019
2019 is MARCHING on at Serving You!
Good morning Serving You Family! I pray this email finds you doing well. It has been a busy month at SYM. Praise God, assistance needs were down this month due to tax returns. We still assisted with over $5000 in emergency utility relief. And although utility needs were less this month, the food pantry was busy, busy, busy! We served 169 families, bring our total number of people touched this month by Serving You up to 350.
In addition to our normal schedule, we also celebrated a long-time volunteer, Ms. Billie, leaving us to move south. Ms. Billie faithfully served for over seven years at Serving You Ministries. We also celebrated the return of long-time volunteers, Bob and Margaret. Although they moved to Cullman, Bob and Margaret are faithfully driving back twice-a-month to continue serving with us.
March was a busy month for our "bonus" volunteers! We had several groups volunteer for Serve Sundays and had NorthPark church out for their Serve Day! Thank you to all our special weekend volunteers! Sunday's wouldn't be possible at Serving You without your help!
We also had our second workforce development class of 2019 start. The picture above is an exercise they were doing in class to help with team building. We are so excited about the students in this class and cannot wait to see what all God does with them!
As we look forward to spring and the new life God brings each year, we pray that God will continue to renew your desire for Him and renew your passion to pray, give, and serve. Please continue to pray for us and all of our team members. God is already doing big things here and we cannot wait to see what the rest of 2019 holds for the clients, volunteers, and friends of Serving You Ministries.
Sincerely,
John Gibson
February 2019
Good Morning Serving You Volunteers, Supporters, and Prayer Warriors!
February has been another great month at Serving You Ministries. Even with the crazy weather, we stayed very busy. We were blessed to assist with $10,444 in emergency utility assistance on power, gas, and water bills this month. In addition to utility assistance, we provided food for over 200 families. This brings the total number of families that Serving You was able to assist and share the Gospel with to 500! Praise God!
During the month of February, our workforce development partners, Hope Inspired Ministries, wrapped up the first class of the new year's six-week instructional time. Now the students move forward into their three-week internships before graduation on March 12, 2019. The students and teachers at Hope Inspired would love for you to join us for graduation at First United Methodist Eastlake at 6:30 pm with a reception to follow!
A special thanks to all the groups that served this month for Serve Sundays. During February we had the Cornelius and Walker D-Life Groups from NorthPark, the Robertson/Hitchcock Group from First Baptist Trussville, and the MedExcel company team.
Thank you to everyone for giving up your Sunday afternoons to be the hands and feet of Jesus!
Thank you again to each and everyone of you! You have shown up and shown out during the month of February! You make all we do possible!
Sincerely,
John Gibson
Executive Director
January 2019
I hope you have all had a great start to the new year! It certainly has been an exciting time for us at Serving You. We began a new class of students in our workforce development class, we have several new volunteers, and even have some new partners on board!
We were not open for appointments the first week of January. This gave us and our partners in the building a chance to meet, pray, and plan for 2019. We are excited about the new opportunities we are able to offer through the Hub we have created together with Hope Inspired Ministries and East Lake Initiative. Be on the lookout over the next couple of months for more information on this collaboration!
During the month of January, Serving You Ministries assisted with over $10,300 in utility and energy assistance. Through our client-choice pantry, Merchant Market, we assisted 203 families, consisting of almost 500 people, with much needed groceries. January was a short month for us but busy. February is already ramping up to even busier so please keep our clients, our students, and our volunteers in your prayers!
A special thank you to the Hopper and Cornelius D-Life groups from NorthPark, the Elmore Sunday School Class from First Baptist Trussville, and the volunteer group from Rebirth Christian Fellowship all for serving a Sunday during January! We appreciate the time and love you shared!
I know I say this every month, but again, THANK YOU! None of what we do would be possible without you. From our generous donors, to our faithful volunteers, to our church partners... all of you play such a special role in what happens at Serving You! We love you and praise God for you daily!
In Christ,
John Gibson
November 2018
November has been a great month at Serving You Ministries!
Wow! How this year has flown by! I cannot believe that we are already at the end of November! We at Serving You Ministries hope that each and everyone of your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving full of family and friends, laughter and food, and most of all lots of reasons to be thankful!
Serving You's Emergency Assistance Arm was very busy this month! We helped with over $7200 in utility assistance. We helped over 175 families in our food bank. That brings the total of people that received assistance from Serving You in November to over 400!
Thank you for your volunteer hours, donations, and prayers! None of what we do would be possible without you!
Sports Reach's annual prison mission trip also happened this past month. 15 men served for a week in Florida at three different prisons. The group played over 15 games with inmates at each prison and shared the Gospel after each game. It was another successful trip where many seeds were planted... now we are praying for growth!
Our workforce development team, Hope Inspired Ministries, also held finished their final class of 2018 in November. Those students that participated in class 6 of the year will have their official graduation ceremony on December 11th. We are excited for what the future holds for these students!
As you can see, things don't slow down around here! As we are preparing the wrap up the year, we continue to pray fervently for lives to be changed this year and for God to truly move here in 2019!
Thank you all for your support and prayers! Just know that changes is happening in our area because of your generosity!
Sincerly,
John Gibson
Executive Director
September 2018
October kicks off Serving 9-1-1 Month
Serving You Ministries is asking for your help to support families in our community this year. Our campaign is called SERVING 911. $9 a month will serve 1 family 1 time this year. 100% of your tax deductible donation will go toward helping a family in the following areas:
A client choice food pantry that will provide 490 meals per $108 given (Total budget $30,000).
Weekend backpacks snacks that will be given to children in area schools who show signs of malnutrition over the course of a weekend. 25 backpack snacks provided per $108 given (Total budget $15,000).
Assistance with a utility bill that will help relieve the burden of having no power, hot water, or way to cook. (Total budget $130,000)
Providing hope to families in the greater Birmingham area by providing sustainable solutions to challenges they face. We assist in education, child care, job readiness, safe and affordable housing, health and nutrition, and crisis relief through our hub partnerships. (Total budget $75,000)
If you would like to make a donation online, please click HERE.
September was a busy month at Serving You Ministries
September was a great month at Serving You Ministries! We helped 215 families with food! That means that over 600 people were fed this month because of your generosity! In addition to the food given at Merchant Market, we also gave $6,796 in utility assistance during September! God is so good and we are so thankful for all that he is doing in the Birmingham area!
We also had lots of great Sunday volunteers during September! Thank you to Rebirth Christian Fellowship, NorthPark Baptist Church, and First Baptist Church Trussville for sending teams out to serve! We love serving alongside our partners in ministry!
We also celebrated our two year anniversary at our Eastlake Location! We had no idea how God would grow this ministry when we made the move to Birmingham but oh how He has! We celebrate new clients and new students every day!
Thank you for your continued support we could not do any of this without you!
August 2018
August has been a busy month at Serving You Ministries! Between fundraisers and school starting back, we have been at full throttle all month long!
During the month of August, Serving You provided 222 families with food through our client-choice food pantry, Merchant Market. In addition to food, SYM helped families with almost $9000 in utility assistance! In total this month, Serving You Ministries served 494 people. Over 500 people heard the Gospel and received prayer this month. Praise God for all He is doing in Eastlake!
Earlier this month, we had a golf fundraiser at Silver Lakes in Gadsden. The turnout was great! We had 22 teams playing across the 18 holes all to help Serving You Ministries do what we do. We cannot thank the participants enough and North Valley Church for hosting the fundraiser!
Also in August, we visited the Lovelady Center for a time of worship and teaching! Thank you NorthPark Baptist Church for providing the worship and First Baptist Church Trussville for doing crafts with the children!
We also had New Volunteer Training this past month. It was a time for members of our partner churches, that felt called to serve, to come together and hear the vision of Serving You Ministries and our Hub partners. We had a great turn out and have SIX new volunteers signed up and ready to start serving this September!
In August, we also had our 3rd class from Hope Inspired Ministries graduate and our 4th and LARGEST class yet to begin the program! Please continue to be in prayer for these students as they prepare their hearts and minds to make the changes needed in their lives. We are already so proud of these guys!
We can never say it enough, but THANK YOU! Thank you for all you guys do! Thank you for all the ways you support Serving You Ministries and the work being done here. Thank you for the prayers. Thank you for the time served here. We could never do any of this without YOU!
Have a great start to the fall! We will check back in next month! Be blessed!
July 2018
Summer is officially coming to a close and as we look back over the past month, we are blown away by how amazing God is! During the month of July, we helped over 146 families and 350 people with food and over $4,000 in emergency utility assistance! Even more amazing is that we had SIX, yes SIX, people come to know the Lord last month! God is using this ministry, the volunteers, and your gifts to do big things! So THANK YOU for all YOU DO to help Serving You!
July also held our 2nd Annual Serving Younited Week!
July 22nd through July 26th Serving You presented it's 2nd Annual Serving Younited Week! We had over 50 people participate with five different churches represented! We worked on FIVE different homes and the Serving You Building got some work done on it too! We had THREE different Bible Clubs going on around the city and had a multitude of Gospel conversations! God truly showed up during Serving Younited Week!
We wrapped up Serving Younited Week by helping out at Oliver's Ready Day One program on Saturday, July 28th! SCA Performance's staff came out to prepare food and serve over 500 hamburgers and hotdogs! There were games and jumpy houses for the students to enjoy and parents were able to pick up school supplies for the kids! It was a great way to end the week!
Thank you again for all you do to make Serving You Ministries possible! July was an incredible month and we cannot wait to see what the fall is going to hold!
June 2018
June was an awesome month at the You!
God has always blessed the work done at Serving You and June was no exception! In the last month, Serving You provided emergency and crisis relief through utility assistance in the amount of $6904. In addition to the monetary assistance given, we served over 189 families and 459 people through our client choice food pantry.
Our partner ministry, Hope Inspired Ministries, saw their second graduating class from the U Ministry Hub and almost all of the graduates are currently employed! Glove Ministries is continuing to hold support meetings weekly for women in abused situations to help them recover their self-worth and find freedom. Also, East Lake Initiative officially joined the U Ministry Hub and has begun working directly with the Hub partners as the last step in this process to help people find affordable housing! God is so good!
Also in June, Serving You sent a team to Italy through Sports Reach to help spread the Gospel through a sports camp for children. This was the third year and the relationships that are growing between the adults and the children are INCREDIBLE! We saw God move in amazing ways! Muslims, atheists, and many Catholics all heard the freeing Word of God! Continue to pray for the Vitter family as they stay behind in Italy to continue the work and begin to pray for next years team!
Thank you for your continued support! We couldn't do any of this without our partners, supporters, volunteers, and friends! Know that you are always in our prayers as we thank God for what He is doing here at the U Ministry Hub!
April 2018
It's been an amazing month at Serving You!
April was a great month at Serving You Ministries and the U Ministry Hub! All of our partner ministries have been in full swing and we have enjoyed the new energy in the building from all our new friends!
With the winter months being so cold, our clients are still trying to catch up on those really high bills. We paid $6223 in utility assistance this month. Through Merchant Market, our client-choice food pantry, we provided groceries for 213 families and over 400 people! We also partnered with JCCEO to help an additional 40 people with utility assistance and food in a special assistance day here at the U Ministry Hub!
It's been an amazing month and we are so grateful for all our partners, supporters, volunteers, and for YOU!
March 2018
Happy March Serving You Family! It has been an amazing month!
This past month Serving You helped families in crisis with almost $7000 in financial assistance. In our food pantry we provided food for over 140 families. That makes a total of 282 people that will NOT go hungry this month!
Serving You moved and opened our client-choice food pantry, Merchant Market, with double the square-footage making room for more volunteers and more clients each day! Serving You officially opened the "U Ministry Hub" - moving in partner agencies to help with assistance needs seen at Serving You on a daily basis. WorkFaith and Hope Inspired Ministries help our clients with job training and life skills. East Lake Initiative will assist with housing and nutrition needs. We are even offering off-site childcare at New Rising Star for clients in our classes! And of course, Serving You is still offering nutritional assistance through the food pantry and financial assistance during times of crisis.
It has been amazing to see God work through the new partnerships located all under one roof at the U Ministry Hub. Please continue to pray for Serving You and all of their partner ministries this summer as we continue to grow and learn together!
Thank you for your continued financial support, your continued volunteer hours, and your continued prayers! We could not make any of this happen without YOU!
February 2018
Is Serving You Busier Since the Move?
Often people ask, “Is Serving You busier since the move?” To better answer that question, let us give you a visual. Everyday, we have to fill out paperwork for each family that receives food from us. In the picture below, the stack on the left is a 4-month period from 2014 and the stack on the left is a 4-month period from 2017... so to answer that question - YES!!!!
Starting in March, Serving You Ministries is going to be addressing a two-generational approach in assisting single moms in the Birmingham area overcome barriers that are keeping them from being successful at caring for their children.
Single moms struggle with adequate child care, education and work development, nutrition, housing, and crisis relief. With the blessing of the building donation to Serving You, we are able to start a Northeastern Birmingham Hub to address all these issues in one central location. We will be partnering with New Rising Star Community Church to provide child care off site, Work Faith Birmingham to provide a 10-day work development course at Lovelady Center and Salvation Army, Hope Inspired Ministries to provide a 9-week work development course onsite, housing options through East Lake Initiative, nutrition assistance through Serving You Ministries and East Lake Initiative, and crisis relief also by Serving You Minsitries.
If you are wondering if we are busier... absolutely! Things are about to be wide-open at the Serving You Ministries Hub.
Please know we appreciate your support and covet your prayers. We would love to have you jump in and be part of the Hub. We need volunteers for all of these initiatives and ministries. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead your decision to serve here on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. To for more information about any of our partner ministries or to sign up to volunteer, email Kathy at kathy.woods@servingyou.org.
During the month of February, Serving You Ministries assisted in over $8,922.41 in Emergency Utility Assistance.
This month, Serving You provided emergency food relief to 160 families in need.
Over 370 individuals heard the Gospel and were served through Serving You Ministries in February 2018.
January 2018
We have had a great start to 2018!
Although it was a chilly month with a few "snow days" mixed in, we still had an amazing start to 2018 at Serving You! The cold meant that energy bills were higher and clients were still recovering from Christmas, so we had many opportunities to assist this month!
We were able to help families with $6,287.37 in utility assistance during the month. We also served over 155 families, with a total of 326 people, in the Food Pantry during January. This month, Serving You delivered over 200 Backpack Snacks to the students at Oliver Elementary. Thank you to all our volunteers, sponsors, and partners for helping to make this another great month!
We Have Exciting News!
God continues to bless Serving You Ministries through great church partnerships, faithful financial donors, and amazing volunteers. This month we had an additional blessing... The Church of the Highlands gifted Serving You the deed to the building! 6523 1st Avenue North now officially belongs to Serving You Ministries!
Through this gift, Serving You is hoping to use the building as a hub for ministries and services in the Eastlake and Birmingham area. Work Faith will remain with us, but we will be adding Hope Inspired Ministries and East Lake Initiative to our hub. It is going to be exciting to be able to offer clients even more services all under one roof!
Fundraiser Time!
Serving You also kicked off it's fundraiser in January! This year, in place of the silent auction, Serving You is going to use Donation Cards to help raise the money needed for the 2018 year. These cards contain dollar amounts from $1 up to $36. If you are interested in donating a specific dollar amount, you can give online or to any Serving You volunteer.
If you are interested in sponsoring us for the entire amount of one card, you may do so for a one-time gift of $700. You may also email John or Kathy to receive a PDF of the actual cards if you are interested in sharing what Serving You does with your friends and family and taking donations from them.
Our goal is to get 25 cards filled up by March! If we meet our goal of 25 cards, we will have raised over $16,000!
Thank you again for your support! You make this ministry possible!
December 2017
Big Things have happened at Serving You in 2017!
2017 has been a great year at Serving You! We have assisted 2,166 families and 5,814 individuals with food, job and financial training, and with $94,507 in financial assistance in times of crisis. Over 2,400 people have heard the Gospel throughout the year!
Through our backpack ministry, we served over 23,436 meals through 3,348 backpack snack bags. Through our partnership with Changed Lives Christian Center we have helped serve 970 hot meals to men residing at the center.
During 2017 we have had 16 graduates from Financial Peace University and 44 graduates from Work Faith Birmingham.
In 2017, we also introduced something new... Serving Younited Week in July! During Serve Week we had over 230 volunteers from 12 different churches partnering together to work all over the city of Birmingham. Mornings of Serve Week, volunteers completed work at 7 different sites including decking, painting, and roofing. During the afternoons, we had over 100 children from across Birmingham participating in Backyard Bible Clubs! The week ended with a shared meal and worship service! What an amazing time of service and worship for us all!
Thank you all for your continued support! We are excited about 2018 and what the year holds!
John Gibson
November 2017
November was a great month at Serving You!
Serving You had another busy month assisting residents from all over the Birmingham area! We were able to help families with $4,656.52 in utility assistance during the month. We also served over 170 families, with a total of 528 people, in the Food Pantry during November. This month, Serving You delivered over 300 Backpack Snacks to the students at Oliver Elementary and served 80 meals at Changed Lives Christian Center. Thank you to all our volunteers, sponsors, and partners for helping to make this such a great month!
John Gibson
October Recap
Serving You had another busy month assisting residents from all over the Birmingham area! We were able to help families with $7,771.69 in utility assistance during the month. We also served over 221 families, with a total of 672 people, in the Food Pantry during October. In addition to our services in house, we also delivered 376 Backpack Snacks to the students at Oliver Elementary and served 80 meals at Changed Lives Christian Center. Thank you to all our volunteers, sponsors, and partners for helping to make this such a great month!
In addition to our normal routine, this month we partnered with Oak Tree Ministries and the Woodlawn Foundation to provide food for a Community Night at Marks Village. This evening gave parents, teachers, and students an opportunity to meet and discuss the school year! It was a blessing to be able to provide a meal for this amazing event and these special families!
John Gibson
September 2017
Good Afternoon!!!
October kicks off our Serving 911 campaign. $9 a month will help 1 family 1 time this next year.
Each month we will help over 200 families with crisis relief: food, clothing, and financial assistance. This past month we helped 184 families (559 people) with food assistance with a market value of $20,000 in groceries. In addition, we helped families with $7,852.78 of financial assistance easing the burden of lost jobs, maternity leave, sickness, divorce, and single working mothers.
Through our support of Oliver Elementary, we provide backpack snacks to children in the area that show signs of malnutrition over the course of the weekend. We offer work development support to WorkFaith graduates. In addition, we visit prisons with our SportsReach softball team.
Please consider sponsoring or continuing to support Serving You with a one-time donation of $108 or a reoccuring $9 monthly gift. Prayerfully consider giving to support one or more families this year, but please give according to how God purposes in your heart and remember to always give cheerfully. Please know we will continue to be good stewards of your gift. Help us spread the word about Serving 911 on social media and in your church home.
Click HERE to find out more and join the 911 Campaign today!
To God be the Glory!
Serving Him by Serving You,
John Gibson