The Outcome...

Unfortunately Greater than us did not win the Charitable Challenge, but we are okay with that. Our presentation went well. We were judged by a panel from Kapco Metal Stamping along with the 4 other teams from our college. We feel good about what we did and are glad we could make a difference. Thank you everyone who contributed to our efforts!! We will try to post some more photos (because the slide show is not working always :\ ).

We congratulate Team Effect on their win. They did an awesome job refurbishing a library for La Causa in Milwaukee. We know they will have the dedication to great job in round 2 of the challenge!

We wanted to share a comment from our last post, too.

Not to diminish the competition in any way but you have all won. You were able to show the compassion of Jesus through your actions. Yes, the competition may be over but the family which you have helped will carry these memories with them forever. You have had an impact on a future generation of children. Rest assured that the Lord is smiling upon you all!

"Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Mark 9:37 [NIV]

Day 20 (The last of the Challenge)

It has been an incredible journey the last 20 days. Our group has learned quite a bit...treading on paths unknown to us, getting to know so many ways we can help in our community. (But there's still more to do!) It certainly was a challenge, but we have gained an insurmountable amount of knowledge and experience that cannot be taught in a classroom.

Tomorrow we present to a panel of judges our project. We hope they like it. If we win the Charitable Challenge 2010 or not, we know at least that we have made a difference.

The slide show (so far)

There are still a few photos we need to add, but this is a good summary (in stills) of our last 19 days.

Day 18

Day 18 was spectacular!!

Most of the group was able to head to our family's home to help clean/repair things and give out items we attained for them. It was quite a productive day...and well worth it!

The kitchen was a grand project...walls and appliances were scrubbed. A new pantry cabinet was put together so they could have more food storage. The faces of the cabinet doors/drawers were replaced thanks to one of our group member's dad (<---he's fantastic). New curtains were hung in various rooms. The handles on the tub, sink, and toilet were repaired.

The best part was when we brought in all of the clothes we were able to collect for the family. We also bought them a crib, mattress, bed set, and a few items for the baby on the way. The mom started crying and was incredibly grateful.

And then we told them we were going to pay their heating bill for the month. They are so set! But we still have a stroller coming and some food still to take to their house. We are giving them some Brewers and Bucks tickets as well. They should enjoy that!

This Charitable Challenge certainly does not end today, or even in the next couple days. It's a life long attitude.

Days 16 & 17

The past couple days have been very productive for the team. We set up our t-shirt sales at school (and our raffle). More shirts were sold than we anticipated! Thanks so much everyone!

We also have been shopping around for some deals on items we can purchase for the family. On day 17 we had...

ONE SUCCESSFUL SHOPPING NIGHT!
We have purchased:
A crib and matress
Crib Bedding Set
Cabinet Pantry
One rug for kitchen/one for entry way
Some curtain hardware

On day 18, we are going to have one big work day at the family's house.

Somewhere we missed a day...whoops.

Day 14

Some photos of things we want to repair for the family.

Our t-shirts came on day 14. We are selling them for $10 on campus both Thursday and Friday during the lunch and dinner hours. Also, people have a chance to enter a drawing for 2nd row, first base line Brewers tickets vs. the Rockies on April 6th or Wave Tickets. Entries can be purchased for $1 a piece or with the donation of nonperishable food items, clothing or school supplies.

A majority of the team also went shopping on day 14 to compare prices and find some deals for items we want to purchase for the family or use for repairs.

We plan to spend a good deal of the day working with the family at their house on Saturday.

It should be pretty fun.

Day 13

This is the house the family is renting now.

On day 13 we were able to go to the home of the family we have chosen to support. We talked with the mother and met several of her children. They are wonderful! We're so happy and passionate about this cause!

We have come up with several ways we can be of assistance to this family. They need help paying their heating bill first of all. So we can cover that payment for them this month. It would be nice to also cover their rent for the month, but we don't have a budget big enough for that yet.

We are looking into making them a pantry in their kitchen also. Right now it is rather make-shift and feeding a family of their size (5 kids, mom, dad, baby on the way) is not a cheap task. If we could fill their pantry that would be wonderful! Food donations/gift cards are all welcome! If you want to send anything like a gift card here is the address: William Denzer 8800 W. Bluemound Rd. Milwaukee, WI 53226 ---and we'll be able to pass the donations on to the family.

Furthermore, we intend to make some repairs on their kitchen cabinets, their bathroom plumbing, purchase curtains, maybe get them a dryer?, and also get some bigger items like a crib for the baby on the way. Whatever we are able to afford with our budget and do in the next several days. O, and we want to get the kids some school supplies, maybe some new clothes/shoes, and definitely some winter gear.

The father is unemployed at the moment, so we thought we could help him get a resume built up, too. That will really help in the long run if we can assist him in getting job.

We are still brainstorming to come up with some ways in which we can help support the family for an extended period of time. Any suggestions are welcome...just comment.

In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.
Vincent T. Lombardi

O hello Day 12!

Day twelve is a good one.

We contacted a church downtown and asked their secretary if they knew any families who were struggling and needed some help, ones that we could work with personally. She was able to give us the number of a family. We called them. They called us back, thankfully. We explained ourselves...

The gist: We have a family we can help!!! They have 5 kids and one on the way. The eldest one is 16. The father lost his job. The mother works for now, but will have to take maternity leave soon. That doesn't put them in a good situation. In addition, their house burned down not even a year ago, and they are renting a place right now.

When talking with the mother on the phone, she was in tears and immediately grateful that we would be willing to help. The group is going to go meet the family tomorrow (hopefully take some pictures/video we can share) and learn more information about how we can be of service. We have some ideas in mind already, but want to ask them about it also.

We will be selling t-shirts on campus this week Thursday and Friday during the lunch and dinner hours to help with additional funding for our cause. We will also be raffling off some Brewers and Bucks tickets for those interested.

We have just under a week to make a difference here, but the more people we can get to know about this the better.

About the Children's Service Society of Wisconsin: We invite everyone to sign up and join in their Run/Walk by April 29. This is a great WAY to support their cause in aiding foster families!

You, my brothers, were called to be free.
But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature;
rather, serve one another in love.

Galatians 5:13

Days 10 & 11

The majority of the group had prior commitments for the past weekend, so we have not been in much contact for the past 2 days.

We do have news to share though. Once we have our meeting tonight, we can tell more. Stay tuned!

Day 9...now the real challenge begins

Today was a difficult one for the group. We sat down to meet with the president/administrator of the Milwaukee Immediate Care Clinic. The meeting did not go how we expected it to at all! For one and a half hours we patiently sat and listened to what he had to say about his clinic and his involvement with it for the past 25 years. We heard him out (that's almost all we were able to do).

Honestly, he came in with a completely different vision that did not align in any respect with the mission we hold as a group. So unfortunately we unanimously decided that this project is not worthy of our efforts. As bad as that sounds, we feel it would not be fair in any way if we gave to the clinic (it wouldn't be fair to any of our donors, or even to what we were sent out to accomplish in this challenge). We were entrusted with much and are determined to help in the most apt manner.

So this sends us back to square one...but no worries, we've got ideas! This has now turned into a 10 day challenge, but we are more than ready for it.

We still are going to help CSSW in some way, too. We are still determining this exactly.

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. (NIV)

Psalm 37:5-6

Great news on DAY EIGHT!

A WLC alumna contacted the group via email to tell us that she works for a healthcare manufacturer that looks to donate items like exam tables and and other medical equipment that they can't resell. She is interested in helping out with the Milwaukee Immediate Care Center. How wonderful!

The group is planning to meet tomorrow at the Care Center to get further details of what they would need/want us to help with. It should be very good. We are so excited.

The challenge is not in competing with the other teams, but rather, the challenge lies in the fact that we only have 20 days to make an impact (12 days now).

Day 7 and doing well!

On day 7 we all kind of went our separate ways to get things accomplished.

Our brainstorming of contacts and donation ideas were at work. Phone calls were made, letters written, the office work done.

T-shirt designs were sent to the printers for a quote, and the 10 of us will be purchasing them to wear around as publicity. Details will be coming soon as to how WLC students (or anyone willing to come to the campus to pick them up) can buy their own to support our mission.

The Facebook group has now surpassed the 500 member mark, and our blog has been viewed over 500 times...in just one week. Thank you everyone! Please help us spread the word even more. Our goal is to reach 15,000 people with our mission by February 15.

We would also love to thank The Sword (WLC's student newspaper) for generously donating ad space to our group's mission. What a WAY to contribute! The paper came out on Day 7 with 600 copies printed.

Day 6

SO...yesterday (day 6) we took quite a big leap forward. We were finally able to visit the places we've been contemplating giving our $1000 (and other donations) to.

We had a meeting with 5 of the directors at the Children's Service Society of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. They explained to us what they do--placing children in either adoptive families, foster families or relative's homes. We were definitely able to get a clearer idea of what we would be able to do to help them out. Maybe it would be more feasible for us to put together packages for families, volunteer at events, hold a food/clothing drive rather than work with one family individually (because of all the confidential mumbo jumbo)...but that's okay. Whatever we can do to help.

They were hoping to meet together today and come up with a good list of ideas for us to do that would be most helpful for the families that they work with. We will likely meet with them again.

After our stop at CSS, the group traveled to the north side of Milwaukee to check out the Milwaukee Immediate Care Center. It's not in a good part of town, and it was getting dark by the time we arrived, so we left a little sooner than expected. But we at least got a glimpse of the place...it is really in rough shape. They could use major help. Just by the looks of things, the building's facade could be spruced up (vines taken down, new signs put up) and inside could use some advancing, too. We were able to meet with Dr. H. briefly, but really have to sit down/speak to him more to further decide any thing the clinic would like us to do.

And last night we had another late meeting to make a decision on what to do. We honestly think that we could work with both places in various capacities.

It feels so good to finally have direction!

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people...Galations 6:10

Day 5 of Charitable Challenge 2010 (read previous posts to catch up)

Hey everyone. The ten of us were back in session Sunday to round off day 5. There are 15 days left now.

We are very excited to visit The Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare Foster Care and Adoption on Day 6 to see how we can help.

We have also come across another area our funds may possibly be directed toward. One of our team members kind of stumbled upon this, but we all think it is a fantastic idea...

There is a clinic that was featured in The New York Times back in September. It's called the Milwaukee Immediate Care Center, and it is in pretty rough shape. We believe we can help. And this is something the college could maybe continue with in the future, too.

We are planning to visit the clinic today, also, and have more details and photos about it. Then we can finally have a focus for all of this commotion.