A tremendous thank you to Carter’s Clothing for their regular donations and a dedicated crew of students from Notre Dame High School who sponsored a clothing drive which yielded a tremendous donation of ‘new with tags’ clothing for the giveaway. What a treat for the 20 plus families that came out for our event.

 

Our faithful volunteers from the Zonta Club of Elmira showed up early to help organize clothes and also provided a plethora of diapers that were distributed to our guests as well! We can’t forget all the other friends of the ministry that have been intentional to support His Haven, both financially and with generous tangible donations, that help make these programs so successful! Elmira, giving looks good on YOU!

 

More information on our next event coming to our Facebook page soon!

123 individuals served by our faithful volunteers from Penn Ave Methodist Church at our Friday dinner. It was delicious and there were no leftovers!

On Friday evening we also hosted our second annual Kid’s Clothing Drop where community children were given the opportunity to have a free shopping experience in a clothing store at our location stocked just for kids! The children, ages 5-18, had fun filling their shopping bags with clothes, both new and gently used, shoes, accessories, undergarments, hygiene supplies, back packs, school supplies, fresh baked candies and more! We know the clothes will soon wear out, but we hope the memories will last a lifetime! 

At about 3:30 am Sunday morning, two individuals tried, unsuccessfully, to enter the Community Cupboard at our His Haven Southside location. Upon the realization that the building was secure, one of the individuals proceeded to forcefully throw a large rock at the front door, shattering the glass of the only entry door into the Community Cupboard.

These individuals clearly had no idea the impact their actions would have on our community today on the Southside. To the individuals that did this to our door, it is important to know that this was not just an ordinary door. It was a door that countless people that needed gentle food support went in and out of daily to collect free food items for themselves and their family. It was a door that meant someone, homeless and hungry, could come in and take a couple of pieces of fresh fruit and a package of crackers and be on their way with a much needed afternoon snack. It was a door that meant the difference between a mom or dad with small children feeding or not feeding their family on any given night with free fresh bread and produce that they had access to through this door! It was a door that has offered food provision to so many that might be struggling with food insecurity. This was His Haven’s door into the lives of so many of the people we care about in our community. It’s hard to be mad, because this is truly, just so sad.

For the safety of our community friends, the Community Cupboard has to be closed until further notice. For those that depend on having access to the food in this cupboard, please be patient and bear with us as we are scrambling to get this door repaired quickly so our community friends may safely have access, once again. We will keep you posted, community friends.

This young man was one of our faithful volunteers at His Haven and every day he came to the Southside when I was there, he would track me down, wherever I was in the building, poke his head in my door and say, “Hi! You’re my favorite person!“ He was the sweetest, most genuine, young man, and every day that I saw him, he made me smile. I am inclined to believe that many of you were Zach’s favorite person also, but nonetheless, Zach had a special place in our hearts at His Haven and he will be missed very much.

If you ever received groceries from the front Community Cupboard, Zach helped weigh, distribute and display the food on the shelves and in the refrigerators. If you’ve ever been to any of our events and noticed our clean floors and shiny windows, Zach had a hand in making sure things were up to snuff for our guests to enter the building. If you’ve ever driven around the block and looked at our property and noticed that we try to stay in front of all the litter and garbage along the curb, yes, Zach helped make sure that our property was always well groomed.

Zach came to His Haven on a regular basis through an organization called ARC and he was a joy to work with. To Zach’s family and friends, we are so sorry for your loss. Zach was definitely a blessing not only to our ministry, but to so many others in our community, simply because Zach was so good at being just sweet, genuine, Zach!