Vol. 25| Iss. 2| February 2021
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LOVE FIRST BREAKS GROUND ON NEW BUILDING By Kelly Wise Valdes
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Columns: Grace Notes: Hooked On Books: Faith & Footprints: News From The Wire:
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The planning for the new church building at Love First Christian Center has been an ongoing passion for Lead Pastor Jomo Cousins. The groundbreaking ceremony was the first step in the church’s plan to expand to meet the growing needs of its congregation and the community. The new construction is the culmination of a fundraising effort that was faithful in spite of the pandemic during 2020. Faithful efforts combined with many years of planning, preparation and working to build support for the church expansion are finally coming to fruition. “The construction plan is 10-14 months,” said Cousins. “We are [adding] around 60,000 sq. ft. and it will be 3 stories tall.” The new building, which is designed to connect to the existing building, is expected to cost $7 million. This should allow attendance to double with a sanctuary that can seat 1,500 people. “We have been in fundraising mode for the last few years,” said
Love First Christian Center, located at 12847 Balm Riverview Rd. in Riverview, has broken ground on its new building that will double the capacity and includes a gymnasium that can host sporting events and youth programs.
Cousins. “We plan to have a strong year this year as people begin to see the evidence of their giving.” Love First Christian Center, located in Riverview, has grown rapidly in the past several years, leading to capacity issues that needed to be addressed. “We have been short on room for our children’s ministry and teen ministry. We have a growing and thriving teen ministry and STEM program that needs room to flourish.” Cousins also explained that before the pandemic stopped in-person worship, the church
had many Sundays where it had to turn people away because of its lack of room. “Our new facility with have a full gymnasium, our lobby will be tripled, our sanctuary will be doubled,” said Cousins. “We will also be able to increase out life classes. Our new gymnasium will be able to host sports events and youth programs.” Love First Christian Center is also resuming in-person services through RSVP. To learn more, RSVP for attendance or view online services, visit www.lfcc.tv. The church is located at 12847 Balm Riverview Rd. in Riverview.
WOMEN IN ROOFING CHAPTER HELPS LOCAL FORGOTTEN ANGELS By Libby Hopkins
The Tampa Chapter of National Women in Roofing’s holiday service project last December was to provide a roof replacement for one of the buildings on local charity Forgotten Angels’ property. The building that received the new roof is just one of the buildings that will be used to serve the many teens and young adults Forgotten Angels helps in the community. Forgotten Angels is a nonprofit focused on providing resources and support to the youth that are struggling to achieve housing, education and life skills. “I started this nonprofit for kids who have aged out of foster care,” Founder Cindy Tilley said. “Some of the kids come from rough homes, or simply need a helping hand. I strive to give these special individuals a place to feel like they belong, and to help them find their way.” Even though 2020 was a difficult year for all of us, this past year saw many successes for Forgotten Angels. “When most organizations are gauging success using dollars and cents, we use lives saved and lives changed for the better as our benchmark,” said Forgotten Angels’ executive director, David Tyler. “That said, we were able to
The service project this past December was to provide a roof replacement for one of the buildings on local charity Forgotten Angels’ property.
host well over 30 young men on the property, all for varying periods of time, many who are still residents. We successfully provided over 15,000 meals to our youth and countless meals to the homeless through our support of the Good Samaritan Inn. Many of our youth have graduated high school. Many are working full-time and eight of them have vehicles. All are doing much better than when they arrived here. Money has been extremely tight, but we are so grateful to all those who donated, volunteered or supported our mission with their experience, trades or sweat equity.”
The New Year holds many new goals for Forgotten Angels. “2021 will be not only a banner year for Forgotten Angels, we have already begun to grow in size,” Tyler said. “April 2021 will see the opening of the Adderly Home for Girls at Forgotten Angels, and we have already broken ground on our newest facility in Valrico. This new property will continue to house only young men, of which it will be the country’s first solar powered, self-sustaining tiny home community for aged-out youth. It will appropriately house both men and women. We look to partner with either Teco Electric or Tesla.” On Friday and Saturday, March 19 and 20, Forgotten Angels will host their first event of the year on their property in Valrico, which will be a motorcycle rally. “Considering that COVID-19 is still very much a problem, we will take every precaution to make sure that everyone is socially distanced, masked, have personal bottles of sanitizer for everyone and will be outdoors,” Tyler said. If you would like to learn more about Forgotten Angels, visit www.forgottenangelsflorida.org or call Tilley at 728-0461. Forgotten Angels is located at 3604 Little Stearns Rd. in Valrico.