experience liberty Hill
by Megan Diane Beatty megan@lhtxdigest.com
The Venmo Challenge
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RockPointe Pastor Shayne O’Brien and a few team members in Louisiana, helping rebuild after Hurricane Laura.
ast Fall, a woman in Tennessee went viral on TikTok, asking followers to Venmo her any amount of money so she could leave a good tip at a struggling restaurant. After sharing a $3,000 tip with three servers, she continued her fundraising efforts... and started a trend.
photo courtesy Adam Stone
Venmo is a mobile app that does not charge a service fee to facilitate peer-to-peer money transactions.
BUT WAIT... In Liberty Hill, after a long year managing lockdowns, anxiety, and myriad needs, Pastor Shayne O’Brien and RockPointe Church’s creative team challenged members to do the same. They were asked to give $50,000 to help individuals and families for Christmas. The team had some families in mind with specific needs for their physical and emotional health but the church response was greater than what anyone might have expected. The church collected donations through the app to help individuals and businesses struggling to survive during the slowdown. Worship leader Adam Stone said, “During the pandemic so many people needed help. Instead of being overwhelmed with the great need we tried to focus on helping those we could in big and small ways. If God put them in our path, we helped them through the Venmo challenge.” Having received a little celebrity help to overwhelm the coffers—actor Brian Baumgartner, (Kevin on NBC’s “The Office”), Chuck Norris, and Santa, helped the church family raise $62,657—the generosity continued well beyond the Christmas season. 4
Among the beneficiaries of their holiday campaign was a man who received a dental makeover to improve his health, and hope to improve his career prospects. Another family was able to travel to Colorado to share snow with their two sons born with cystic fibrosis. Among the other 200plus stories are families who received hope and help for adoptions and new homes.
THERE’S MORE... Not content to stop with one great holiday success, the church initiated a new campaign; to raise $25,000 between Easter and Mother’s Day to help The Yellow House Foundation build a new home. The Yellow House Foundation (YHF) is a non-profit, volunteer-driven, and free program that provides 12 Step Programs for recovery of alcohol and substance abuse in Leander, Cedar Park & surrounding Williamson County area. Due to the growth of the area and an increase in the number of sufferers seeking support they are working to expand their capacity beyond their current 43 meetings per week.
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“Helping people and their families have the tools to heal from life’s hurts is our passion and our purpose.” Says Pastor Shayne O’Brien. True to form, the church hit their goal and kept going beyond $25,000.
WAYS TO GIVE RockPointe Church hopes to create a ripple effect of good, not just within their church but across the nation. “There is so much opportunity, whether it is to help a neighbor down the street with a utility bill, a teacher at the school, or a single mom who is doing this thing on her own. Our pastor always says ‘do for one, what you can’t do for everyone’ and we live by that at RockPointe.” Church leaders are not managing campaigns at this time but they encourage everyone to find ways to help anyone in need. All it takes is a quick ‘ask’ about a potential benefactor’s Venmo name. Think of it as a 21st century—and digitally secure—version of “Brother, can you spare a dime?”
