Dear Friend of Park View,
As a non-profit organization, we do a lot of math. We keep track of the number of hours logged by our volunteers. We weigh all donations to record the pounds of food and clothing we receive. We count the number of people we serve, the number of bags we pack, and the number of miles we drive. We even monitor the temperature of the food for safety when we load it in our vehicles compared to when we unload it at the Mission.
While the numbers provide useful information, there are some things we can determine even without checking the stats. Recently we received a record amount of food from one of our providers, which was great. But we also have seen fewer volunteers during the week. This really isn’t new, since we always have more helpers over the summer and on weekends because they’re not working or in school.
So today I want to appeal to those of you who may have flexible work or class schedules, or those who don’t have weekday commitments or are retired. Charitable work always requires charitable people. We just don’t have enough of them! If you know of someone who can lend a hand during the week, particularly Wednesday or Thursday, please tell them about us.
There is one other number I think about. Since 2011 when the first wave of Baby Boomers began retiring, I’m told that 10,000 people in America are reaching the age of 65
every single day!
That means there is a growing number of people in Central Virginia with lots of free time. We’d like to meet more of them!
We love all the “miracle workers” that volunteer with us and help us change people’s lives. To you who serve in any capacity and simply make yourselves available for whatever needs to be done, God bless you. And thanks for reading our occasional emails, in which we share our news and our needs.
Your co-worker,
Gordy Harper
Executive Director, Park View Community Mission
P.S. There's one "number" I think about the most. It's the increasing number of school children who receive our food and the growing number of neighbors we welcome through our doors; they're part of the countless number of souls that have been touched, healed, made new... because of our supporters who pray, give, and serve!
