Helping More People Than Ever Before

MOUNTAIN OUTREACH DONORS SUPPORT EXPANSION OF OUTREACH EVENT

Mountain Outreach donated funds to Williamsburg Police Department for their annual Shop with a Cop event this year. On Christmas morning, dozens of children who would not have received gifts otherwise were able to open presents. Their glowing faces were all thanks to the generous donors who made this possible.

Rocky Brown, director of MO, said, "We are extremely thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ and to our donors who enabled us to partner with local law enforcement to help provide Christmas gifts for children in need."

Police Chief Wayne Bird added, "The Williamsburg Police Department participates in many events, but the Shop with a Cop program is the most meaningful and rewarding thing we do as a department. We are very thankful for the generous donation.”

In addition to Shop with a Cop, an estimated 165 children received gifts through MO’s expanded version of the Angel Tree Program. A typical Angel Tree Program will purchase one gift (or more) for the child in need who attends the school. That's wonderful, but what if the child has younger siblings at home who aren't yet old enough to attend school? With coordination between family resource officers and MO staff, schoolchildren in need were identified, and MO purchased gifts for the children, leaving the gifts intentionally unwrapped so the kids’ guardians could wrap them and join in the gifting process. Parents and guardians were also given a Visa gift card by MO to help them purchase food or other essentials during the holidays.

"I usually had to try to come up with gifts for the kids’ siblings. I just can't show up to a home and only give one kid a gift. MO's new approach is a blessing,” said Shirley Lawson, family resource officer for Pleasant View and Boston Elementary schools.

In general, nowadays, MO hosts smaller events and projects more frequently during the year as opposed to hosting a few grand-scale events.

"Event-wise, this is on a smaller scale. But impact-wise, it's greater," said Rocky Brown, director of MO. “The big events were great displays of God's love to our community, but we aren't doing grand-scale Christmas events anymore so that we can be more intentional about how we're reaching out to people during the holidays. Ultimately, we will be helping more people this Christmas than we have before.”

Throughout the year, MO finished (or is still working on) an estimated 60 home repair and community service projects. The community has felt the difference. The consistency of the projects – seeing MO staff’s faces around the community all the time while they’re helping people – builds trust with locals and helps keep MO top of mind when someone in the community needs assistance.

The decision to focus primarily on Christmas gifts this year was made because local food pantries are inundated with food after University of the Cumberlands' annual fall food drive, Plates for a Purpose, which finishes in mid-November.

Thanks to the funding that keeps MO running, lives are being changed for the better through the services MO gets to provide. It was another joyful Christmas season in Williamsburg, Kentucky.