Contact Ministries Newsletter

"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Matthew 9:37-38

July 2013 Newsletter

Volunteer of the Month:

Therese Romanelli

Therese Romanelli began sorting donations in the basement of Contact Ministries in 2005. After a first hand experience of the work CM does in the community she joined the Board of Directors in 2007 and is currently the vice president. She is married to Dr. Ron Romanelli of the Orthopedic Center of Illinois and has 3 sons. They are members of Cherry Hills Baptist Church. Therese chose to volunteer out of a desire to "be the hands and feet of Jesus." Therese said "I feel blessed to have the opportunity to share the love of Christ with the women and children whose lives we touch." Over the last 7 years, Therese has been part of the many changes at CM. As the Shelter committee chairman she has overseen the remodeling of the Shelter facility and added programs for the residents. Therese lives out her faith by giving tirelessly of her time and energy to this ministry. We appreciate you and the love and compassion you show to those we serve.

Thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to the mission of CM!!

Contact Ministries would like to Thank Cherry Hills Baptist Church VBS for the donation of hygiene, food and clothing items. The children at VBS decorated and collected more than 100 bags of items for CM. We would like to thank Lynn Faye and Carol Diedrichsen for delivering all of the items to CM. These items will be a blessing to all the clients who receive them.

L to R: Debbie Whitney and Todd Garner of Peerless Cleaners, Michelle Mitchell of 104.5 and Julie McCormick of Neuhoff Media
Contact Ministries would like to Thank Peerless Cleaners for hosting a hygiene drive the week of June 10th. We would also like to Thank Neuhoff Media for hosting Contact Ministries on the John and Michelle Show on 104.5 and with Sam Madonia on 1450 AM to spread the word about the hygiene drive. We are grateful for all your efforts.

Debbie Whitney of Peerless Cleaners and Julie Zara, CM Board President on the Sam Madonia show on 1450 AM

Krista Yarrington was chosen as the 2013 Basement Boutique Summer Intern. Krista is a Communications student at U of I - Springfield and will graduate in the Spring of 2014. Krista's main role in the Basement Boutique is to "out Boutique the Boutique" - focusing on a Dress for Success area. Krista has put together business appropriate interview outfits for several of our shoppers as well as many of the moms who live in the shelter. She can offer one on one shopping assistance to our clients who have a job interview. In addition to putting together outfits, Krista is also working on improving the "look' of the store by adding some fun new lighting, fixtures, and paint colors! We are thrilled to have Krista for the summer!!

Thank you to Kalia Swickard, Lucy Earhart, and Gayle Rectenwal of First United Methodist Church, for making hygiene bags and helping sort donations. Also thank you to Kim Biggs for coordinating groups from FUMC to volunteer June 17th and 18th and for providing meals for the Shelter both nights. We greatly appreciate all the hard work of the volunteers from FUMC.

Pictured: Matt Collins and Fred Prince

Thank you to Matt Collins and Fred Prince of First Church of the Nazarene for dropping off the donations from the church food drive. Thank you to everyone at the church who participated in the food drive. It is because of the generosity of donors like you that we are able to continue to fulfill our mission.

Thank you for your generous donation to CM!

L to R: Georgia, Rebecca, Kristen, Kat, and Jean

Thank you to Cherry Hills for bringing and serving a meal to the Shelter families each month. We greatly appreciate the meal and the time of fellowship.

CM would like to thank Beth Wilke and her daughter Kate for donating toys for the children in the shelter. The kids loved the toys!

L to R: Pat Carpenter, Erica Austin and Paula Stadeker

The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, NU Omicron Omega Chapter recently donated a DVD/VCR player for the playroom of the shelter for the children to use. Thank you so much for this gift. The children are really enjoying it.

Also, Thank you to Pat Carpenter and her husband, who donated children's DVDs to the shelter.

The children enjoying a movie

How can you help?

Due to the need for Emergency shelter for women and women with children it is with humble hearts and praise to God that Contact Ministries has the opportunity to add 34 beds plus 10 cribs. Our hope is to open the new Emergency Shelter by the Fall 2013. The old Helping Hands facility will now house up to 44 single women and women with children of all ages, including boys ages 13 to 17 who currently have no where to stay.

There is much work to do... If you are interested in helping please contact Breann at 753-3939 ext. 12.

We need volunteers and financial assistance.