Youth Group News!

Happy Sunday, friends!

Today, I would like to start with a few short words of gratitude. Thank you to Stevens McClure and Leigh Kennemer for working hard on their speeches last Sunday morning, and thank you for delivering them exceptionally well, not once BUT TWICE! I know that takes a lot of courage to stand up and read aloud what you took the time to write, and I think it really helped us get the word out. Thank you also to the following for your participation in selling raffle tickets for the freezer and manning the t-shirt and pillowcase table: Greyson Tubbs, Charlie Schwant, Leah Tillman, Ellen Arendall, Henry Frazer, Preston and....

drummmmm rollllllll plllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaseeeeeeeeee….

We raised $1600 during the brunch! Your hard work is paying off, and I am so excited to continue our efforts. 

The Freezer Pleaser raffle is still going strong and we would love to continue selling raffle tickets. The freezer is 7 cubic feet and will come with ten different frozen goods/ casseroles  The drawing will be May 19^th. I would like to send a special shout out to the Tubb’s family for donating the freezer. We are incredibly thankful for your generosity with this project. Please share with your family and friends!

The Dog Costume Contest will be held on May 8^th, at 6pm on the front lawn. WE NEED YOUR HELP! Let me know if you are planning to attend at your earliest convenience!

Below is the flier that will be passed out in Church today (thank you to those who volunteered to pass out!) and the more participants we have with dogs, the more fun the show will be. Please encourage your family and friends to come and vote on their favorite. I will have several stations for your youth to work the event. Please let me know if you are interested in your child participating WITH your dog, as they will have specific duties during the show. If your youth doesn’t have a pup, don’t fret, we need their help to pull it off! We are on the lookout for dads who would like to help man the grill and we will need youth to sell the Hot Dog Dinners the night of. I will purchase everything at Sam’s the day before, but I could use all of the help I can get with the dinners being wrapped, ready and sold. Until we have an accurate headcount of attendance/ participation level, I have pulled in Club 345 to help oversee our dog adoption site. If you don’t have a dog in the fight, throw us a bone and come enjoy the show!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly at any time. Although a chunk of funds raised will be used for the mission trip, we are also working on a fun lock-in during the month of July and lots of fun events throughout the fall. My goal is to keep everyone as engaged as possible and continue to grow our foundation.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PROVIDE DINNER TONIGHT, PLEASE TEXT ME! 251-509-2858. We will see you from 6:00 - 7:15 pm.

Have a wonderful week,

 Miranda

Join us for the Dog Days of Summer Costume Contest

As promised, last week, we brainstormed fundraising ideas for our Youth Group as a group. I was amazed, entertained, and inspired by the kids' creative and brilliant ideas! The one that got the most traction was a Dog Costume Contest so we are running with it! They've planned for a panel of judges and want to carry our theme over into serving hot dogs as we kick off these "dog days of summer!" Please save the date, register your dog below, and stay tuned for more details to come!

There are lots of exciting events happening this summer, but it is all based on the commitment level we can provide. I know everyone has a busy summer and I have done my best to plan our Mission and Disney summer trips BEFORE all the sports begin to the best of my ability. Also, it has been almost a decade since our youth has taken a missions trip and the missions fields themselves have drastically changed over the years.

I am so excited to finally share that we have partnered with the Church of the Good Shepard in Lake Wales, Florida. The Reverend John Mottis, currently serves as a Deacon in the Church of the Good Shepard as well as serving the Diocese of Central Florida as disaster relief chairman and also is on the Board of the Lake Wales Care Center. The Care Center will be hosting our group for the mission portion of this trip. The project managers are putting together age appropriate tasks for the youth to complete around the Care Center. We will likely be helping with their community garden as well as stocking their pantries, and there is also a possibility that we will be helping in their thrift store as well. Here is the link for you to take a look at at your convenience.

Lake Wales Care Center

It is a fascinating place that has so many veins into their mission of spreading the light of Jesus. Information on accommodations in Lake Wales is coming soon, so stay tuned for that portion of the trips detail. We will depart from church on June 7th and head directly to Lake Wales, an eight hour drive. Currently, I have two minivans (holds 7 each) on hold for traveling. (If you have any thoughts, suggestions, connections on traveling, let me know!) This portion of the trip is an excellent way to give back and to experience life outside of Mobile. I realize there are tons of needs around our town and I am planning to add those through the upcoming year as well, but with most of our students having to commit to service hours for school, I thought it would be a cool idea to see another place. Often times, getting out of our town allows our eyes and minds to open on how big our world really is. (I am very happy to sign service hours for this trip though, they will definitely deserve the credit.)

The second component of this trip is meant for connection! We will be staying at Sarasota Springs in the Walt Disney World Property and will be headed out each day for FUN! I have TWO villas on hold here, each holds 9, including a chaperone. The portion of this trip will include, the dining plan for each kiddo, the accommodations for each kiddo and their ticket into the parks each day. The Villa is a great set up as it has a full kitchen. We will plan to have breakfast every morning along with morning prayer to start our day. The dining plan will cover their lunches, snacks, and dinners in the park. I am in the process now of making the reservations and it has been the highlight of my day, I must admit.

This is going to be a fabulous experience, and I am looking ridiculously forward to spending time with our youth. The church has set the portion of $550 for each child and we will fundraise to make up the additional amount. In order to know exactly what the trip will cost, I have to know exactly how many children will want to attend. I have had a few folks outside of our church inquire and I have let them know that this will go out to our St. Paul’s Church members FIRST. I will need to send our exact number by April 17th. This way we can determine if we will need additional vehicles/space. This trip will cost approximately $25,000 so it is important that we begin fundraising immediately.

If your child is already planning on going, please let me know!

Here is what we are planning on that we could use your help with ….

• April 21st is a brunch Sunday. We would love to have youth volunteers to help serve breakfast following the service. The theme is “Brunch with this Bunch” and we will have bagels and all the fixins 😊
• We will make tri-boards that have envelopes, available to put in the offertory and/or the boxes in the parish hall.
• We will sell t-shirts for the children to wear to church in the summer.
• Catherine Tubbs is working on an event at Red or White.

There are so many opportunities to help get this off the ground, and I look forward to working hard to ensure this trip is successful and an option for everyone who would like to join!

Blessings,

Miranda

Don't miss an update:

Looking Ahead...