Glen Cary Lutheran Church - Weekly Updates

From the week ending November 4 (covering most of October!)

Good morning everyone!

I hope all is well. First, I just want to say how blessed I am to have so many great volunteers that work tirelessly every day to make FPAC a reality in this community. We all have so much on our plates, juggling so many different things, but you continuously make time to make our shelter network a reality.Thank you.

FPAC has had a very busy and productive first year of operation and our work is just beginning. We have added two new congregations.Oak Haven and Andover Christian. New Brighton Christian is hosting FPAC this week and is hoping to have the capacity to join us next year. Unfortunately, we lost one congregation; Grace e-Free Church was unable to continue to serve as a host congregation but they are still hoping for the best for the families we serve. We have had the opportunity to share our thanks to our current congregations throughout the fall season with the work of our speaker's bureau and we are getting in front of new groups and congregations, educating them about FPAC and exploring the opportunities for involvement.

I am hoping to send out the final 2012 hosting calendar within the next couple of days. I am waiting to get a confirmation on a possible schedule conflict. Once that is completed, I can send out the calendar. I apologize for the delay. It can take a lot of coordination working with many different schedules. Be on the lookout. One the calendar is completed, I will send out the finalized copy of the coordinator's manual. That of course will be a working document, updating and changing processes and procedures as we continue to grow as an agency, but we will all be on the same page working towards continuity.

The last volunteer training date for 2011 is scheduled for Monday, November 14, 2011 at Zion Lutheran Church-Anoka. This training will be held from 5:30p-7:30p to make sure we don't prevent any Vikings fans from watching the Vikings/Packers game that eveningJ RSVPs are not necessary, volunteers can just show up to Zion for the training. I will send out the 2012 training schedule along with the 2012 hosting schedule.

Fundraising, as in all non-profit organizations is a year-round, on-going effort. We were so honored to have been selected as the agency that will benefit from the fundraising efforts of the TPC ROSE group. This was an awesome opportunity and will continue to help us fund our FPAC operations. The TPC ROSE group will formally present FPAC with a gift check on December 7^th. At that time, we will find out the total amount raised from both the golf event and the fall gala. Stay tuned.

FPAC also has the opportunity to maximize your giving dollars through Give to the Max Day on Nov 16^th. Give to the Max Day is also known as the Great Minnesota Give Together. This one day fundraising event allows local non-profits to connect with supporters and provide them with an opportunity to make an electronic financial contribution between 12:00a-11:59p on Nov 16^th which qualifies FPAC to be eligible to win additional contributions from GiveMN. Last year, FPAC raised $4200 from a total of 70 donors and we received one or more gifts every hour on that one day. Help us reach our goal of $10,000 on Give to the Max Day and here's how.

Log onto our GiveMN site FPAC-GiveMN and make a contribution on Nov 16^th
"Like" FPAC on Facebook to hear about great things that are happening
Share the FPAC Facebook page on your Facebook status and encourage your friends to "Like" FPAC
Talk about your involvement with FPAC and encourage family and friends to make a contribution on Nov 16^th

As a new organization, fundraising events like Give to the Max Day provides us with a ready-made venue to expand our reach. This allows us to continue to fund our mission of ".helping families regain their independence by providing shelter for families experiencing homelessness."

Thanks again for all you do to support FPAC! Have a fabulous week.

Wednesday, November 23

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

First, a big thank you to everyone for all of your hard work and support in our shelter network. You are very much appreciated! Time just flies by and I can't believe there is just one more month in 2011. Here are a few updates on FPAC:

FPAC Schedule

I have attached an almost final copy of the 2012 schedule. I know there are a few congregations that have additional scheduling conflicts and I have tried to make those adjustments as much as possible. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a congregation that could fill all of the add-on date requests, so I left those dates unchanged.
Currently, there are 6 dates that are open on the schedule. New Brighton Christian Church has a meeting in December to determine if they are able to host FPAC during the weeks of March 18-25, 2012 & August 12-19, 2012. Thank you to Grace Lutheran that has agreed to host a 5^th week in 2012 if needed. I will wait until we have more information before updating the schedule.
The Salvation Army informed me this week, that they will not be able to serve as a host congregation in 2012, so I now have those dates open on the calendar. I will continue working to recruit additional host and partner congregations to grow our numbers of hosting congregations.
Please let me know if your congregation and/or volunteers would be willing to host FPAC Jan 1-8, 2012. Community Methodist will still serve as a partner congregation during that host week. I am reviewing the options for a hosting location and I will keep you posted. In the meantime, let me know if this is something that you could consider.
I did not include the very last week on the 2012 schedule, but St. Timothy's has agreed to host FPAC that week.

Day Center

The Day Center will be closed beginning, Thanksgiving Day through Sunday, Nov 27^th. Generally, FPAC does not authorize overnight requests, except during the major holidays. If our guests have the opportunity to spend the holiday with people that are important to them, then we will extend the overnight. If guests did not have a safe place to spend the holiday, then FPAC would remain open.
The Day Center got a HUGE facelift. All of the flooring has been replaced and it looks fabulous. We have new commercial grade carpet. This brightens up the Day Center, has more durability and camouflages the dirt that builds up. We also replaced the tile flooring and widen the entryway in the front and side of the Day Center. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to replace the flooring. Feel free to stop by anytime.

Fundraising

Many have asked about the success of the TPC ROSE fundraising events and the total amount of funds generated from the fall gala and golf invitational. We are excited to find out as well. TPC ROSE will officially present FPAC with the proceeds of both events on Dec 7^th! We can't wait. I will be sure and send an update on the success of this fundraiser.stay tuned.
FACEBOOK Fan Challenge: Here's an easy way to help raise funds for FPAC. For every "Like" on Thrivent Community-North Central facebook fan page, Thrivent will donate $2 to FPAC. Just think, if we have 500 people "Like" their page, FPAC would receive a check for $1000. Help us spread the word! While you are on facebook, be sure to "Like" FPAC to always read about the good things we are doing in our community and to join in on conversations.
SAVE THE DATE: February 9, 2012 FPAC will host our first fundraiser.Out of the Box. The goal of this fundraiser is to raise awareness around the issue of homelessness within Anoka County and to continue raising money to support FPAC. This event will be held at the Bunker Hills Activity Center. We are looking for businesses to sponsor the design of our boxes. We are also looking for teams of individuals: realty groups, mortgage officers, co-workers, youth groups, etc. to participate by designing a box. I have attached our event flyer for more information.