Tag: Greeley

Project Greatest Gift 2019

Published on by nickcady1 Comment

Project Greatest Gift is White Fields’ annual outreach to children in foster and kinship care in Northern Colorado.

Last year we were able to provide for 241 kids and their caretakers, and this year the Health and Human Services departments from the counties we partner with asked if we could do more, and of course we said ‘yes’! So this year we are aiming to cover 314; the most we’ve ever done.

Clearly Project Greatest Gift is meeting a real need which is not going away.

In this video, Christine Appel shares some information about the great needs that these families face and how we can help:

Project Greatest Gift runs throughout the month of November, which means that we are already two weeks in, and over half of the kids and caretakers still need sponsorship.

It’s not too late to sign up to sponsor a family this year to help make Christmas more joyful, and ultimately to introduce them to the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

Did you know that children in the foster system are an at-risk people group within our communities?

In almost every case, the reason children end up in foster care is because of an unsuitable home environment, which often involves violence, neglect, drugs and crime. These environments not only result in trauma, but they are also associated with poverty. Many foster care situations are kinship care, which means the child is cared for by a relative, which can create a financial burden, especially in the case of grandparents living on pension.

Poverty has a profound impact on a child’s mental and physical well-being. In other words, the suffering that a child who is raised in this environment endures is not only limited to their childhood, but can adversely impact the rest of their life.

Our church, White Fields Community Church, has a history of ministering to children in the foster system. Through some of our leaders, we have developed a great relationship with the Health and Human Services departments in Weld and Adams Counties, and we are able to make an impact in the lives of needy families in our area. In recent years, we have had the special opportunity to get to meet and serve these families at a Christmas event we help put on for them in Greeley at which the gifts are distributed.

If you would like to be involved, visit us on a Sunday morning this November, leave a comment below, or contact the church here.

If you can’t participate but would like to support this endeavor financially, you can make a donation by clicking here, and choosing Project Greatest Gift from the drop-down menu. 100% of your donation will go straight to the kids and their families.

Project Greatest Gift 2018 Wrap-Up

Published on by nickcady6 Comments

Project Greatest Gift, our church’s annual outreach to children and caretakers in the foster care system in Northern Colorado, was a success again this year.

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Loading up gifts to deliver for Project Greatest Gift

In the end, we were able to sponsor 241 children and caretakers in three northern Colorado counties. Additionally, we were able to take part in an event to meet and bless the families who were recipients of these gifts. Along with giving gifts, we were able to include materials in each bag explaining to each child and caretaker the hope that we have because of Jesus.

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Delivering gifts in Greeley

One thing to pray about for 2019 is that Weld County (where the majority of our recipients come from) is considering cancelling their program next year. If that happens, White Fields would consider taking over the program from them. This would require significant resources, meaning we would likely have to expand what we do beyond our church. This might just be the next step God has for this project, but do pray for God’s leading and provision as we move forward!

Check out this interview that our worship pastor Mike Payne did with Christine Appel, the founder and leader of Project Greatest Gift:

Update on Project Back to School 2018

Published on by nickcady1 Comment
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Drop off time!

Recently I told you about Project Back to School: White Fields Community Church’s annual summertime outreach to kids in foster care in conduction with Weld County Health and Human Services.

This month-long project concluded today with some of us from the church delivering the backpacks to the case workers in Weld County. They will be delivered to these needy families in the coming days and weeks.

Two Truckloads!
Staging and Inventory

Here’s a message from Travis Hergert, who oversees missions and outreach for White Fields:

Backpacks delivered!!

This morning, Joe Cady, Pastor Nick and I had the great privilege of delivering the backpacks that you so graciously provided to 135 elementary, middle school and high school age foster children.  As you all are well aware, each pack was filled with the needed school supplies for Weld County Schools.

It took two pickup trucks to haul all of the backpacks to Greeley!  As we were unloading them at the facility, I was so moved when one of the Human Services workers commented that he is always amazed at how our church manages to provide this amount of backpacks and an incredible amount of gifts at Christmas.  He said he wanted to know the secret of how a congregation is so engaged with their community!  All of the Human Services case workers were incredibly appreciative and very excited to give each child their new backpack and supplies.

This goes beyond just backpacks, you truly showed the love of Christ in a tangible way!

…As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:15, ESV)

It was great to see how excited the case workers were about the backpacks, having personal knowledge of the kids and the details of their situations. Please be in prayer both for the kids, their caretakers and these case workers who care so much about them.

“Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)

This is an ongoing outreach, so if you would like to be involved with either Project Back to School or Project Greatest Gift, contact White Fields by clicking here.

The Best Place to Own a Home in Colorado

Published on by nickcady8 Comments
Firestone, CO

According to NerdWallet, Firestone, CO is the best place to own a home in Colorado.

This article on the Firestone town website boasts that Firestone is 30 minutes from Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins. Curiously, they don’t mention that Firestone is also a short 30 min drive from everyone’s favorite Northern Colorado city: Greeley 🙂 However, Firestone clearly has closer ties to Longmont than to Greeley, even though Greeley is their county seat.

My wife and I considered a home in Firestone when we were looking for a place to live in Longmont. We could have bought a nicer house for less money in Firestone than in Longmont, but in the end, my wife doesn’t like rural areas and we were afraid that if we lived in Firestone we wouldn’t have many visitors because people wouldn’t be willing to make the drive out. For some people that might be part of the appeal! Whether it’s true or not, we may never know.

However, with Firestone being right in the middle of everything in Northern Colorado, it would go to figure that living there you spend a lot of time in the car no matter where you want to go.

Another factor in why we moved to Longmont rather than Firestone is because I wanted to be as close to the mountains as I could afford – so we specifically wanted to live in Northwest Longmont, near to MacIntosh Lake, Rabbit Mountain, Lyons and Estes Park.

What do you think?  Any Firestone residents out there who want to chime in and let us know the joys and/or difficulties of living in “the best place to own a home in Colorado”?