Compassion In Action Stories

Compassion In Action Stories, CompassionKaty.org Volunteer of the Year

Compassion Katy 2012 Volunteer of the Year

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Compassion Katy is pleased to name Mel Hancock as our 2012 Volunteer of the Year!

Mel has been a valuable servant leader with Compassion Katy for the last 5 years.  Mel and his wife Joy have lived in the Houston area since 1995, and they are members at Parkway Fellowship Church in the greater Katy Area.  He is an important part of our Katy ServeFest Project Management team and has helped us make a lasting impact on the YMCA’s Camp Cinco.  No job is ever too big or too small for Mel; from planning projects and acquiring materials to hands-on building and supervising the volunteers, he has served in all areas at Katy ServeFest.   He treats every project with the same dedication and spirit of excellence.  One of the greatest gifts that Mel has is mentoring skills.  He has an incredible gift that allows him to come along side people and help them understand the project or task at hand. He teaches and allows them to find the solution for themselves.  He is instrumental in developing the next generation of leaders for Katy ServeFest.  He give other the confidence to stretch beyond their volunteer experience to become Katy ServeFest leaders.

Compassion Katy is so thankful for the many years of dedicated servant leadership that Mel has provided.  He is truly a blessing to our community!

Compassion In Action Stories, Katy ServeFest

Thank You Katy ServeFest 2012 Volunteers

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Compassion Katy wants to thank all of our incredible volunteers who served with us at Katy ServeFest 2012!

For the first time in Katy ServeFest history, we were forced to cancel a work weekend for outdoor projects on February 18 because of weather conditions. However, on February 25, the volunteers were able to complete almost every planned project at each of the 7 different project locations. At the Katy Family YMCA’s Camp Cinco, we worked to improve the day camp facility by clearing and mulching new trails, building three new play structures, painting and staining various areas, repairing several buildings and pouring over 7 cubic yards of concrete. Volunteers worked at 2 different Katy Christian Ministries locations, building new dressing rooms at the Mason Rd Superstore and painting at their administration building. We were also able to bless several families in our community by assisting with much needed home repairs like repairing walls, painting, roofing, plumbing and electrical work.

Special thanks goes out to our 20 church partners and the many volunteer Katy ServeFest Leaders who stepped up and made such a huge difference to our community! Without the help of our leaders and church partners, Katy ServeFest would not happen. Compassion Katy would also like to thank Chick-fil-a of Katy and Treehouse Mexican Baja Grill for their generous donations of food for the volunteers. Thank you!

Compassion In Action Stories, Cornerstone Presbyterian, Epiphany of the Lord, Grace Fellowship, Holy Covenant UMC, Katy ServeFest, The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch

Fall Katy ServeFest 2011- God Answers Prayer

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By Randy Carter Katy ServeFest Project Manager, Member of The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch

Fall 2011 Katy Servefest Slide Show from The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch on Vimeo.

Saturday, September 24, was a very special day for some disadvantaged people in the heart of old Katy.  That was the day they were recipients of help from Katy ServeFest volunteers who had been recruited and organized by Compassion Katy.  Why these recipients?  Because as always, the Compassion Katy leadership team asked the Lord our God for guidance and direction — which He faithfully provided according to His good graces. It all started with prayers for Him to show us opportunities to be of service to our community. It’s a story of how God provides a way when we cannot see the way.

The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch has always had many people with a heart for serving people in our community who are less fortunate, in need or caught in a disastrous situation.  Since organization is the key to effectiveness, Compassion Katy was formed to link willing helpers with those who need a hand.  Directed by Diane Walker, Compassion Katy has grown from an idea birthed at The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch to a multi-church, multi-project network with more than six years of experience organizing believers to be the hands and feet of Christ.

As the Compassion Katy leadership team prayed for an opportunity this fall to mobilize volunteers for a new local project, Diane contacted her network of churches for ideas and got a response from Mike of Grace Methodist Church.  It just so happened that Mike had a list of homes in Katy that are in need of basic repairs.  These fit well with the talents and skills of typical Compassion Katy volunteers.  We also received a referral through Katy Christian Ministries.  This was our first answer to prayer.  Simply by asking our network of Christian community churches and organizations, we were led to some great projects.

Then our prayers were focused on finding leaders who could organize the projects to help these families.  We needed people who could get the right talent, materials and instructions in place to accomplish the tasks.  It’s not as easy as it sounds and takes many hours of preparation.  So we prayed and God provided leaders from The Fellowship and two other churches to take responsibility, evaluate each family’s needs and develop a budget for each project home.

Our leader Diane then had the figures and knew how much money would be required to buy the materials to repair these needy homes.  We prayed, God provided.  Within 12 hours of contacting our partner churches, $5,500 was donated.  This included donations from a new church that had never partnered with Compassion Katy before. Once the needed funds were in place, it was time to prepare for our event.

We prayed for volunteers — those who could perform the skilled work, those who could minister and those who just wanted to help.  We prayed and God provided some 110 volunteers for our four project sites. Members from Holy Covenant, Grace Fellowship, Epiphany of the Lord, Cornerstone Presbyterian and The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch worked together and we give all they glory to God for providing these incredible volunteers.

The leaders of Compassion Katy then prayed that not only would we help those who are in need with physical improvements, but that people would be touched emotionally and spiritually – both the helpers and the ones being served.  We prayed, God provided.

Here is a short list of what God used Compassion Katy to accomplish:

•Provided an elderly widow with running water in her house, including the installation of two sinks. (Yes, she was living with no running water indoors.)  Painted her living room, cleaned her house inside and out and hauled away large trash items.

•Provided a handicapped woman with handrails down her ramp so she can once again walk out of her house.  Secured and installed a new window air conditioner and repaired kitchen cabinets which were detached from the walls.

•For another elderly woman we cleaned up the yard, fixed the fence, repaired the roof, solved major electrical problems and installed new ceiling fans and working outlets.  Oh, by the way, it was discovered on site that to fix this electrical problem would require Center Point Energy to work on their connections to the transmission lines.  We prayed and God provided as only He can.  With one phone call, we had a Center Point truck at the site within 30 minutes!

•For an elderly couple with rotten siding and eaves on their home, an army of men from several churches attacked the problem up on ladders and weatherproofed the residence.

AND BEST OF All:

•Heard the elderly widow sing gospel songs to us to express her appreciation.

•Saw tears of joy flow down the face of the handicapped woman as she and her children expressed their thanks with hugs for the volunteers.

•Saw the other lady show her appreciation not only with words, but by helping with raking.

•Witnessed young men learning the basic craft of construction as well as experiencing the reward of serving others.

The Bible tells us that “faith without works is dead.”  Compassion Katy provides the opportunity to put our faith into action and to love and serve our community with the heart of Christ.  But we have learned to pray every step of the way.  We pray and God provides!

John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

 

Compassion In Action Stories

Belhaven University Gives Back to KISD Kids

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Belhaven University is responding to our current economic crisis by providing 1,000 filled back packs to KISD residents in zip codes 77494, 77084, 77450, 77449, 77493, 77079

 

Date: August 13th starting at 8:00 am

Location: 15115 Park Row , Houston, TX 77084 (Behind Sam’s Club)

Bring: Photo ID and proof of residence (ex: Drivers License or State ID card and lease agreement or utility bill)

Children must be present to receive a back pack.  First come, first serve. (please do not arrive before 6:30 am)

For more information phone 281-579-9977

 

Compassion In Action Stories, Compassion Katy, CompassionKaty.org Volunteer of the Year

2010 Volunteer of the Year

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Compassion Katy is pleased to announce Melissa Williams as the Compassion Katy 2010  Volunteer of the Year.

Melissa has been volunteering from a very early age.  As a young girl, she assisted her grandparents on weekly trips delivering food to shut in senior citizens with Meals on Wheels, she has been an active volunteer in her church for many years and currently volunteers with Compassion Katy and serves as the assistant leader for her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop.  Melissa works behind the scenes for Compassion Katy doing the communications and website content management.  She and her family volunteer annually at Katy ServeFest, she believes that volunteering is important and is striving to teach her children the value of volunteering too.  Compassion Katy thanks Melissa Williams for her dedicated service to Compassion Katy!

Compassion In Action Stories, Katy ServeFest

Thank You for Making Katy ServeFest 2011 Our Best Event Ever

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2011 Katy Servefest Slideshow from The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch on Vimeo.

Compassion Katy’s 2011 Katy ServeFest was our best work event ever! Thanks to the 400 volunteers over multiple weekends, we were able to bless our community with more than $43,000 in volunteer labor value! We appreciate each and every volunteer that came out and served, Katy ServeFest cannot happen without a dedicated team of volunteers to lead the projects, so we’d like to extend a special thanks to our work site leaders, Randy Carter, Mike Hulett, Mel Hancock, Thomas Larvin and Steve Nordlander.  A HUGE thank you to Bren Petroski for donating her time and talents by baking two beautiful cakes that were served to our volunteers during the second weekend.

We also would like to thank our 2011 Katy ServeFest Sponsors! Chick-fil-A, MKT Mortgage, Levin and Atwood, LLP, Christian Brothers Automotive, The Breath of Life Clinic, Texas Online Printing, and Exploration Technologies. Thank you!

2011 Church Partners: Redeemer Community Church, Creekside Community Church, River Bend Baptist Church, Grace Fellowship UMC, Cinco Ranch Church of Christ, The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch, The Vineyard Church of Katy, Cornerstone Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Grand Lakes Presbyterian Church, The Crossings Church, Epiphany of The Lord Catholic Community, Westland Baptist Church, Life Church Katy and Church of the Holy Apostles.

Plans for Katy ServeFest 2012 are in the beginning phases, please make sure to mark your calendars for this exciting event, February 25 and March 3, 2012.

Congratulations to our Katy ServeFest Volunteer Appreciation Drawing Winners!

Aaron Walling- Schlitterbahn Tickets
Brian Hummel- YMCA Citywide Family Membership

Cheers to Volunteers, Compassion In Action Stories, Katy ServeFest

Cheers to Volunteers!

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Katy ServeFest 2010 was an huge success, but we couldn’t have done it without our awesome volunteers.  There were many hard working volunteers at both sites on both weekends, but we would like to honor a specific volunteer from the Katy YMCA Camp Cinco site as our Spring Cheers to Volunteers award winner.

Curtiss Walker with his parents, Steve and Diane Walker.

Curtiss Walker, age 14, is an incredible worker, he worked hard both weekends, taking the lead on several jobs.  Curtiss worked tirelessly leading a team of volunteers cutting new trails through the woods at Camp Cinco among many other jobs.   He has volunteered at every Katy ServeFest event since Compassion Katy began sponsoring Katy ServeFest in 2006.

Thank you Curtiss for your service to the community and to Compassion Katy!

Cheers to Volunteers, Compassion In Action Stories, Katy ServeFest

Thanks a Million!

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It is with heartfelt thanks we say thank you to all of our many volunteers and supporters. Over two weekends almost 600 volunteers came out to give their time and talents, representing over 4,000 volunteer hours. We had volunteers from Brenham, Beaumont, The Woodlands, Lufkin, Houston, Sugar Land and many other towns. We also thank our partnering churches, Alief Baptist, Epiphany of Our Lord Catholic Church, The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch, Grace Fellowship UMC, Grand Lakes Presbyterian and many more. Your participation is helping us change our community for the better. A special thank you to our community partners, Kosmos Coffee and Chick-Fil-A, who graciously donated food and coffee for both weekends.

EXCITING PROMOTION FOR ALL KATY SERVEFEST VOLUNTEERS!

As a special thank you from the YMCA for all the hard work given at both locations, the YMCA of Katy has donated a One Year City Wide Family Membership for one lucky family that wears their Katy ServeFest shirt to any Walt Disney Park! Send us your picture by email and you will be entered into a drawing for a 1 year city wide family membership with the YMCA. Please include your names and where you live and we will post them on our website.

Email the pictures to update@compassionkaty.org. This promotion will run through the end of the year. All submissions made prior to January 3, 2011 will be eligible. The winner will be announced January 5, 2011. Check www.compassionkaty.org to see the pictures of our “Volunt-EARS”!

WANT TO VOLUNTEER AGAIN?

Across the nation there is a group called Angel Food Ministries. This non-profit ministry partners with wholesale grocers to provide quality groceries once a month at a reduced price. Living Word Lutheran church at 3700 S Mason Rd in Katy provides this wonderful ministry. More information can be found at www.angelfoodministries.com

Christ Clinic, Compassion In Action Stories, The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch

Carnival Outreach

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October 8th, 2009,  the Fellowship at Cinco Ranch hosted a dinner for the carnival workers from the Rice Harvest Festival.  Last year when the carnival was in in town for the Rice Harvest Festival, one lady was touched and thought “unseen and forgotten”.  Her heart ached for a year wondering how she could help touch their lives, letting them know that our Lord cared for them and saw them right where they are.

She went to the outreach pastor at The Fellowship at Cinco Ranch and the vision was born.  Over 30 men and women were fed barbeque with all the fixings and even homemade pie.  Assorted door prizes were given out and everyone left with a care package of personal items.

Compassion Katy worked with Christ Clinic to have those needing to see a Doctor, be able to see one.  Dr Walker, from Houston was on call and graciously worked very late to see all that needing medical help received it.   The clinic also waived all fees and supplied what medicine they were able to.

The most touching part of the evening was watching rough downtrodden men and women reach out and ask for prayer and counsel.  Prayer on the sidewalk, by the fence, in the car as people were transported to the clinic and then to Wal-mart to pick up their medicine.
God is so good.  We are grateful to the strong woman of God who followed God’s heart and vision and stepped out to make this event happen.  Who knows the last time any of these workers were offered and served free food, given medical assistance and most of all, were shown the love and grace of our Lord.  Touching them right were they are.

Compassion In Action Stories, Katy ServeFest, Katy YMCA

Katy Servefest 2009 YMCA Camp Cinco Update

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My name is Alyssa Miller and I am the Summer Intern for Compassion Katy. This has been my first Katy ServeFest experience, and WOW! I cannot even begin to tell you how amazed I am at how wonderful our volunteers were this past weekend at YMCA’s Camp Cinco. Over the course of Saturday and Sunday, July 25th and 26th, 157 volunteers from at least 5 different churches arrived at Camp Cinco ready to serve in any way needed. They took on a variety of projects including painting, washing windows, landscaping, constructing picnic tables and a giant wagon, and the biggest project – moving an entire movie theater into the woods. Our volunteers are so dedicated that many of them willingly stayed after everyone else had left and kept working. That is serious dedication, and they showed true hearts of service!

Each volunteer was given a free t-shirt, and on Saturday Chick-fil-A donated sandwiches for everyone! The kids loved playing the beanbag toss game and having fun with the Chick-fil-A cow. Overall, it was a fun and rewarding event for everyone who participated!

If you would like more information about Katy ServeFest 2009, please visit the website www.katyservefest.org. There is still one more weekend left to serve, so sign up now for Saturday, August 1st!