Community Purse meetings are a blast. It’s a party we are all invited to, where we leave feeling better than when we came. Most of the same people come and some we may only see once a quarter, so the mood is upbeat and joyful. At the McHenry Chapter meetings there is free pizza, which adds to the overall happiness, because that’s what free pizza does.
I have the honor of introducing the organizations that are coming to talk about their missions and needs. I go to their websites and read about the people they serve and, sometimes, how the idea began. So often, these amazing charities start with a noticed need, 1 or 2 people who desperately care about it, and a pad of paper. They don’t start big. They may get big, with funding from different places and a gala to help raise needed resources, but they usually start small.
I love hearing that Bernie’s Book Bank, started in a garage to honor the father of the founder in 2009, has given away an astounding 27 million books since then. The Isa Kranz Foundation was created in honor of the lovely daughter of the founders, whose life was cut short by suicide. They have dedicated their lives to trying to keep that from happening to others. The CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocate) program began in 1977 by a judge seeing the need for abused and neglected children to have someone whose only job was to make sure they had an adult voice caring for them in a confusing and very adult court system. CASA McHenry started in 2005, and now serves 115 children a year.
These are people that saw something going on in the world that made them stop in their tracks and say, “That is unacceptable. I have to do something about that.” It became a discontent so large they quit jobs, put up their own money, turned their garage into an office, and got to work.
For all this good to happen, they need support. They need money for staff, and training, and desks. They need to buy feed for the horses that work with people with disabilities. A thousand-pound horse can eat 10-20 pounds of food a day. They need repairs for the van that picks up donated meat for the food pantry. They struggle, they juggle numbers, and they scrimp on one thing to afford another.
That’s where we come in. We are able to help, and we are called to give. Romans 13:9 says that we need to really love others, not just pretend to love them.
One of the ways we can make that true is to put our money where our mouth is. We don’t just stand by and admire the work that is happening. We combine our small amounts to make a larger gift to these people doing such incredible good in the world. They need the help, and they need our encouragement.
Please come to a meeting and see what Community Purse does. Laugh with us, listen with us, help us choose which organization to support. Eat free pizza. It is a fabulous use of an hour of your time and $100 of your money.
- Shannon Plate, McHenry County Chapter