Serving Our Community

Below is the calendar for the hotel feeding program for this Spring through the Fall.

Please take a look and see if there are any days that you or your group may be able to help with preparing and delivering dinners to our guests at the hotel.

Please also remember the following:

1. The stockroom is still available for your group to request items from. This helps defray the cost of donating a night of meals.

2. The Mercy Chef option is still available. It is $210.00 a night to feed all the guests for one night during the month of April, because we still be at roughly 60 guest a night.

In May the guests will drop to 30 guests and there for the Mercy Chef option will drop to $105.00 a night to feed all the guests for one night in May.

***If you/your group can provide a driver to drop the mercy chef meals off at the hotel that is great. If you can only write the check for the mercy chef meals and have no driver please just let us know, in advance, and we will schedule one of our drivers to deliver the dinners on the night you have scheduled to donate on.

3. Sandwiches and Fruit nights – Please also remember that an option is a sandwiches and fruit night. This would be were your group would donate one PBJ sandwich, one meat and cheese sandwich and one soft fruit per person on your scheduled night. If you want to add chips or something else to eat you are more than welcome to do so too, but all that is required is the 2 sandwiches and fruit per person. (you can request from the stockroom resealable sandwich bags, paper lunch bags, mustard and mayo packs, if that would help your group do a sandwich night.)

As we can all see there are many ways to easily help provide dinners. Please let Judy Steinmetz know what additional help you need and what night your group will want to deliver. Thank you so much for your continued help in feeding those in need and thank you for your continued outpouring of love of our brother and sisters! These available dates are shared with multiple churches. Some slots may already be filled. Fall Dates Open! August-December 2021

AARP Tax Aide Church members volunteer each Spring on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at GBPC during the months of Feb – April to assist with free tax preparation service for individuals in the community. Volunteers are needed for greeting, reception, and to help with tax preparation. Contact: Frank Brothers

Abba List is a website that has identified all the different organizations and resources in the Hampton Roads area that are set up to address specific needs for individuals in the community. The information on this website focuses on free services for those in need. GBPC financially supports the maintenance and continued development of this website. ABBA List focus has grown from the Resource Website to now also include two other programs, CAST and Burfoot House. Contact: Abblist.org Burfoot House CAST: Sam Howard

AIDS/Hospice Meals Each month a small group meet to prepare meals that are given to the Access AIDS Center, which help feed those living with HIV/AIDS and their families. If you would like to assist with helping to prepare these meals, contact Clara Brothers. Contact: Clara Brothers

Blood Drive The Men’s Saturday Morning Bible Study group coordinates two, American Red Cross blood drives in March and September. Volunteers are needed to help assist on the day of the event with set up, registration, greeting, and helping in the canteen. Contact:

THE BURFOOT HOUSE is a transitional home and comprehensive program designed for homeless single women to achieve self-sufficiency. The program is designed to offer a safe, supportive environment to overcome trauma, begin to address issues that led to homelessness, and begin to rebuild a support network. The program focuses on employment, savings, and permanent housing.

CANCER CARE FOUNDATION – Several volunteers from GBPC support this outpatient treatment cancer center by providing lunches and snacks for the patients receiving treatments. The volunteers deliver the lunches directly to the patients receiving the treatments, and offer words of encouragement during their visits.

CAST Chesapeake Area Shelter Team provides overnight shelter to the homeless of Chesapeake during the winter. GBPC offers building space for one week each year to provide shelter, meals and additional services such as haircuts, blood sugar screening, eye exams, bible study, music performances and prayer. We need volunteers in many capacities throughout the week. CAST is a program of the ABBA List 501(c)3 nonprofit.

Chesapeake Free Care Clinic Chesapeake Free Care Clinic provides free dental and medical care to residents of Chesapeake who cannot afford insurance or medical/dental care. GBPC donates funding and volunteers at the facility. Volunteers needed for medical and dental roles, clerical, to provide lunch and dinner for the volunteer medical staff, special projects etc. Contact Bradley Simpson.

CHESAPEAKE JAIL MINISTRY – The purpose is to help provide for the spiritual needs of the incarcerated in the local Chesapeake Correctional Facility. Volunteers serve as bible study leaders, life skills tutors, mentors and after care assistance.

Christmas Angel Tree Volunteers needed to help assist the Coordinator of the GBPC Christmas Angel Tree project, which provides gifts during the holidays to children, or items to support non-profit organizations. Needs: decorating the tree, collecting gifts, wrapping gifts, delivering gifts to schools.

Contact: Judy Morgan

Christmas “Adopt a Family” GBPC adopts families in December to provide them with gifts for their children and home for Christmas. These families are from our church congregation, local schools and families in need from the community.

Faith Works Coalition, Inc. GBPC partners with other church leaders to provide assistance with home repairs, clean up, yard work, and painting to those in need in our community. Scheduled work days take place every Saturday morning with volunteers from multiple churches. Home Depot gift cards or monetary donations are needed to help offset the cost of supplies for the projects. Contact: Carter Wright

Food Pantry Community Resources Network (CRN) supports a food pantry. The Food Pantry serves needy Chesapeake residents or those who are transient citizens in route through the city. It also provides emergency services of food, shelter, clothing, or emergency cash grants. GBPC supports the CRN Food Pantry by encouraging monthly donations from the congregation on Food Sunday, which is the first Sunday of every month.

Food for All Campaign The Music Ministry at GBPC organizes a food drive each September to help restock the shelves at the Southeastern Food Bank in Norfolk. Donations of food items needed during the drive, as well as boxing and organizing the food for pick up. Contact: Billye Brown Youmans Phone: 757-547-4706 Email: music@gbpres.org

For Kids, Inc. For Kids provides housing and assistance to homeless families in our community by placing them in shelters or transitional living apartments and provides services to end the cycle of homelessness in the family. Volunteers assist by providing hot meals and hosting fun events. GBPC provides meals on a monthly basis, hosts an end of the year picnic and hosts and serves lunches for 2 weeks in the summer through the Jump Start program. Contact: Lisa Zanni

Garden Ministry GBPC has its own garden on the premises where a group of volunteers help maintain, water, plant, weed, harvest and deliver to Plant–A-Row which sends fresh vegetables to those in need in our community.

Jingle Jog 5K This 5k race and 1 mile family fun run/walk event is held on the third Saturday in December at GBPC. Volunteers of all ages help on the day of the race for registration, course directors, and for set up and cleanup before and after the race breakfast. Funds are raised through participant registration, sponsors and donations. This event will benefit Young Life Chesapeake. This event will be held Sunday December 16, 2018 at GBPC, and will raise funds for Young Life. Website: http://www.facebook.com/gbpcrunners/

Operation Tons of Love The Music Ministry of GBPC coordinates a food drive in February each year, to help stock the shelves at the Southeastern Food Bank in Norfolk. Donations of food needed during the food drive, or help with sorting and organizing the food for pick up. Contact: Billye Brown Youmans Phone: 757-547-4706 Email: music@gbpres.org

Prayer Shawl Ministry Core group of volunteers who gather twice a month to crochet shawls and prayer squares to share with those who are alone or in need of comfort from the “covering” of Christ’s love. Contact: Barbara Stephens

Thanksgiving Food Baskets The church body collects and donates food for 75 baskets of meals, along with 75 fresh turkeys, for families in need at local schools. Volunteers help with collecting bags from grocery stores, boxes to store the food, and delivery of baskets to the schools. Collections begin early November.

Tidewater Pastoral Counseling GBPC donates funding to this agency, which offers counseling services at a sliding scale fee to those who cannot afford to pay or do not have insurance. GBPC is one of the host sites for their counseling services, and has counselors on site at GBPC three days per week. Contact: Marty Phillips Phone: (757) 623-2700 Website: http://tidewaterpastoral.org/

Young Life Young Life is a non-denominational, Christian, non-profit organization that is committed to introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith. Young Life staff and leaders are caring adults who strive to build positive relationships with teenagers. Through friendships as well as through club, Campaigners and camp, Young Life leaders get to know teenagers and gain their trust. Because of these relationships, leaders “earn the right to be heard” and can share the Gospel with their teenage friends. Young Life wants to reach every kid, everywhere, for eternity. Currently, Young Life is active in all 50 states and more than 45 foreign countries, reaching an estimated one million teenagers annually. Approximately 120,000 middle school and high school students are involved with Young Life on a weekly basis. More than 75,000 kids spend a weekend during the school year or a week in the summer at one of Young Life’s 21 camping properties in the United States and Canada. Young Life of Chesapeake was started by two devoted men right here on the steps of GBPC in 1997 and is now active in the Great Bridge Middle and High Schools, along with 5 other middle schools and 6 high schools in Chesapeake. Website: http://www.gbpresyouth.org/