Breakthrough Gift Catalog

We are especially excited to offer you a great way to GIVE this holiday season.

Looking for areas to contribute? You can now give through our NEW gift catalog. SHOP NOW!

This winter is forecasted to be record cold with blizzard conditions, and if you’re homeless in Chicago,
you have fewer options for places to go this year. Each year, it costs 1.9 million to impact the lives of homeless adults. So far we have raised 1.65 million of that. Help us close the gap!

Consider a donation to Breakthrough as you ponder your year-end giving. We need supporters like you to ensure that the programs at Breakthrough will continue strong in 2012 .

Sincerely,
The Breakthrough Team

Email - Volunteer Updates - December 2011

Greetings, lovely Breakthrough Volunteers!
I can't believe it's December already! We're gearing up for this year's Big Serve opportunities at both the men's and the women's facilities. Please take some time to read about what each Big Serve opp may entail and let me know if and how you can help out! We'd love for you to be involved in these opportunities in any way possible.  Hope to see you soon!

DECEMBER MEN'S MEAL DATE CHANGE
For December 2011 only, the Men's meal has been moved from the 2nd Thursday (12/8) to Tuesday, 12/20. If you were already planning to join us on the original date, please update your calendar and schedule to this new date. We are so very sorry if this causes any complications or problems for you - please contact me if you have any questions or concerns about this new serving date.

DECEMBER MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops this month:

• Tuesday, December 20th - Men's Facility 
• This month is our annual 'Big Serve'! We need tons and tons of volunteers to make this month happen! We've been told that this is one of the highlights of the holiday season for many of the guests that stay at the Breakthrough Ministry Center. For the first time in many of their lives, they have the opportunity to experience restaurant style dining. So please consider joining us and bring your friends, small group, work team, neighbors, condo board - anyone that's interested! In addition to volunteers, we also need side dishes, desserts and financial contributions for the meal. Please let me know if you can donate time, food or money.  ;)
• (Great ideas for side dishes are corn casserole, mashed potatoes, salads, etc.)
• Friday, December 16th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• This is also the month of the 'Big Serve' for the women's facility! Every year, we lead quite a few crafts, bring some music and have delicious morsels to help get everyone in the Holiday spirit. We need people willing to lead a craft, bring music (either live or CDs) and helpers in the kitchen. Also - if you'd like to bring a side dish or dessert, just let me know! 
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested. Keep in mind that even if you can't make it to either of these meal times, you can still contribute financially or maybe prepare some food ahead of time for the serve.

Christmas Store 2011

Happy Holidays, Breakthrough Volunteers!
Below, you'll find some important information for Breakthrough's Christmas Store this year. It's being held Saturday, December 17th, at Breakthrough Urban Ministry Center (402 N St Louis Ave).

Breakthrough still needs donations and volunteers to make this event a success. More details (including shopping lists for Target and Walmart) are forwarded below. Please take some time to consider how you can help make this the best Christmas Store yet!  :)

If you're volunteering, please sign up with Amy Duesing (volunteer@breakthrough.org). Volunteers are needed to help wrap gifts, assist shoppers, provide hospitality and bake holiday treats. If you're able to provide some new gifts for the store, you can have them shipped directly to Breakthrough, drop them off at Breakthrough, or drop them off at our place and we'll make sure they get to Breakthrough on time.

Let me know if you have any questions or fun ideas to make this even better.

Thanks, everyone and Merry Christmas!  :)
Love and Hugs -
Amanda (& Don)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Breakthrough Urban Ministries 

Dear Breakthrough Friends,

Breakthrough's Annual Christmas Store is just 2 weeks away! The Christmas Store empowers community residents and our homeless guests with a dignified way of selecting and purchasing gifts for their loved ones. Shoppers are able to purchase new toys and gifts at a discounted rate with earned "Breakthrough Bucks" or with actual money.

There are several ways you can get involved! We need volunteers to bake holiday treats, host a toy drive, volunteer at the store, or plan an afternoon shopping trip. Christmas Store volunteers are encouraged to support the store with new toys or gifts. For ideas, please check out the Breakthrough Wish Lists at Target and Walmart. Items ordered online ship directly to Breakthrough.

We appreciate your support of Breakthrough Urban Ministries. Merry Christmas!

Please contact Volunteer Coordinator Amy Duesing at volunteer@breakthrough.org for further details.

Men's Serve - December Date Change

Hi folks -
We had to change the date of our monthly meal serve for only this month, December 2011. Instead of having it on the 2nd Thursday of the month, we've switched it to another open meal serving time on the Tuesday, 12/20.
One of the many reasons we decided to switch our day was so that we could have the Big Serve closer to Christmas. We also hope this allows for more volunteers to be able to come out and serve with us. Hope to see you soon!

Email - Volunteer Updates - November 2011

NOVEMBER MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops this month:

• Thursday, November 10th - Men's Facility 
• For the Men's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help prepare and serve food - and set up the dining room. Always a hit - we'll be serving up some yummy Mexican cuisine, complete with plenty of choices for the guests at Breakthrough.
  
• Friday, November 18th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft or music and volunteers to help prepare and serve food. 
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested. The more the merrier.  :)

OUR WONDERFUL BLOG
Lastly, don't forget to check out our blog: http://wcbreakthrough.blogspot.com/. This blog is an excellent reference for all the monthly email updates, as well as containing other volunteer opportunities as they become available.

Email - Volunteer Updates - October 2011

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
We're gearing up for lots of exciting new things at Breakthrough this month. Take a minute to read through what we're up to - and let us know if you can join us to volunteer for any of the upcoming opportunities.  :)

OCTOBER MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops this month:

• Thursday, October 13th - Men's Facility 
• For the Men's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help prepare and serve food - and set up the dining room. Don is determined to serve a classic home-cooked meal this month.  Braised meat with delicious cheesy smashed potatoes and salad. As always, let us know if you're available and able to serve.
  
• Friday, October 21st - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft or music and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.  Please see "women's serve update" below for a special announcement regarding one of our beloved lead cooks.
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested - serving at Breakthrough makes a great first date. Kind of.  ;)

ANNUAL BENEFIT DINNER
Save the date! Friday, October 28th is the date of this year's annual benefit dinner. The theme this year is Imagine and it promises to an inspirational night, featuring speaker Harvey Carey and musician Heather Headley. For more information on the benefit dinner, please click on the official link here: http://breakthrough.org/general/43/annual-benefit-2011. Also, Willow Chicago is hosting (a) table(s) collectively. If you'd like to register to sit at with Willow Chicago at this event, please click on the following link: http://www.ministrysync.com/event/home.php?e=3689. Under "Event Information", select "Okwu, Chi Chi" for "My Group Host Is". Just reply to this email and let me know if you have any questions or problems registering.

WOMEN'S SERVE UPDATE
Please join me in thanking our beloved Rebecca for close to three years of faithful service as one of the lead chefs for the women's serve at the Joshua Center! During her time serving with us, Rebecca has helped to spearhead the effort to extend the outreach of Willow Chicago to the Joshua Center. She has also treated the guests at the Joshua Center with everything from homemade macaroni & cheese to fabulous chocolate cake. Her culinary skills and leadership in the kitchen will be greatly missed. Best wishes on your future endeavors, Rebecca! :)

Rachel will continue to co-lead the monthly women's serve on the 3rd Friday of each month.

OUR WONDERFUL BLOG
Lastly, don't forget to check out our blog: http://wcbreakthrough.blogspot.com/. This blog is an excellent reference for all the monthly email updates, as well as containing other volunteer opportunities as they become available.

Email - Volunteer Updates - September 2011

SEPTEMBER MEAL OPPORTUNITIES

Here are the details for the meal serving ops this month:

• Thursday, September 8th - Men's Facility (two short days away!)
• We need volunteers to help prepare a meal and serve it - then enjoy some lovely grub and have a conversation with the guys.
  
• Friday, September 16th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft or music and volunteers to help prepare and serve the meal. Please let me know if you'd like to help with the craft or music.
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.
TOUR
Due to the Holiday weekend, the first Monday tour has been rescheduled for Monday, 9/12. As a reminder, Breakthrough hosts a tour of its facilities, along with an overview of many of its programs at least once per month. For more information or to sign up, just follow this link: http://www.breakthrough.org/general/9/behind-the-scenes-tour.

OUR WONDERFUL BLOG
There's lots of really great new stuff going on at Breakthrough and plenty of opportunities to get involved in addition to the Manna Ministry (meal-serving). The fresh market is debuting Saturday, 9/10, and Breakthrough is even getting involved with a thrift store! We do our best to keep an updated list of opportunities and going-ons at our blog, so don't forget to check it out: http://wcbreakthrough.blogspot.com/.

Email - Volunteer Updates - August 2011

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
As the summer is starting to wind down, so are volunteers. Please consider joining us for a meal opportunity in August - and bring a friend if you know of anyone that might be interested in helping to serve a meal.

AUGUST MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops this month:

• Thursday, August 11th - Men's Facility 
• We'll be bringing in some Harold's Chicken Shack vittles this month due to work travel schedules. We still need volunteers to serve food and sit down to eat with the guys.
  
• Friday, August 19th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft or music and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.

Email - Volunteer Updates - July 2011

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
Please take a minute to review the happenings at Breakthrough this month.

JULY MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops this month:

• Thursday, July 14th - Men's Facility 
• For the Men's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help prepare and serve food - and set up the dining room.
• Friday, July 15th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft or music and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.

HUNGER WALK
Thanks to everyone who walked in, raised money for and donated toward the Hunger Walk. It was a huge success! Although we don't have final numbers, we're pretty sure we surpassed our goals both for walkers (100+ walking on behalf of Breakthrough) and for amount of money raised ($15,000+)!

FANCY YOURSELF A CHEF?
Breakthrough has a higher than usual number of open meals in the next several months due to the summer season. Please consider volunteering to lead an extra meal with a group of friend or even your team at work. Contact Tim van Alstyne for a schedule of open and available meals at manna@breakthrough.org or 773.346.1744

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO SUPPORT BREAKTHROUGH
(1) We're in need of reusable plastic plates and cutlery at the Men's Center; if you know of any source (like a restaurant or diner that's getting rid of plates) please get that information to Tim van Alstyne at so he can contact them about potential donations.
(2) "Home Court" is a Breakthrough event on Friday evenings from July 8th to August 12th. It's focused around a competitive 20-team youth basketball league, as well as free food for the community, art projects, music and fun activities. We're looking for coaches for some of the younger age divisions and for groups who would be interested in sponsoring one of the nights -- grilling and serving the food and helping to run some of the activities. If you're interested to help with this opportunity, please contact Rusty Funk at rfunk@breakthrough.org or 773.722.0179 ext. 221.

Email - Volunteer Update - June 2011

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
If you're reading this, you've made it to June!  Congratulations!  Now read below to see how you can help out at Breakthrough this month!  :)

JUNE MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops this month:

• Thursday, June 9th - Men's Facility 
• For the Men's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help prepare and serve food - and set up the dining room.
• Friday, June 17th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.

HUNGER WALK
This year's Hunger Walk is right around the corner!  On the morning of June 25th, Breakthrough will participate in the Greater Chicago Food Depository's 26th annual 5K walk against hunger. The walk will be held in and/or around Soldier Field. Our goal is to show up with at least 100 walkers and to raise $15,000 for Breakthrough's Food Depository account. We need you to come out and walk with the Breakthrough team on the 25th, to help sponsor walkers and to recruit other sponsors and walkers!  I'm already registered and we'll be meeting as a group that morning for a "pep talk" by the un-coach, Don.  If you want to support the cause, just go to Breakthrough's Hunger Walk page (http://bit.ly/jrEjeA) and click "Donate" and/or "Join Team".  

 

Please contact Joe Hofbauer (jhofbauer@breakthrough.org or 773.346.1782) if you're interested or need more information.

JOB OPPORTUNITY
Want to make a positive difference in your job on a daily basis?  Breakthrough is currently looking to hire a Volunteer Coordinator.  If you're interested in learning more, just follow this link to the official job description: http://www.breakthrough.org/general/38/employment.

Please keep in mind that non-profit experience isn't required. So if you're a natural leader with people skills and admin ability, you should check it out.
Please contact Tony Escobar at tescobar@breakthroughministries.org if you have any questions.

FACEBOOK
Find Breakthrough on Facebook, and tell a friend about Breakthrough at facebook.com/brkthru.

SERVING THROUGH SPORTS
Below are a couple of really great opportunities to serve for those of us that might be a little more sports minded.

(1) "Home Court" is a Breakthrough event on Friday evenings from July 8th to August 12th. It's focused around a competitive 20-team youth basketball league, as well as free food for the community, art projects, music and fun activities. We're looking for coaches for some of the younger age divisions and for groups who would be interested in sponsoring one of the nights -- grilling and serving the food and helping to run some of the activities. If you know of anyone interested in this opportunity, please have them contact Rusty Funk, our Sports Coordinator, at rfunk@breakthrough.org or 773.722.0179 ext. 221.
(2) We are also looking for a set of baseball coaches for our 5th and 6th grade teams. This commitment would be from now through late July. Rusty Funk (rfunk@breakthrough.org or 773.722.0179 ext. 221) is the person to talk to about that opportunity as well.

OUR WONDERFUL BLOG
Don't forget to check out our blog: http://wcbreakthrough.blogspot.com/. This blog keeps an archive of all the monthly update emails, and there's also a lot of unique information here that's just good to know as well as great updates and other opportunities to get involved at Breakthrough. Feel free to bookmark the blog for easy reference.

Love and Hugs -
Amanda (&Don)

Email - Volunteer Update - May 2011

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
It's finally May - that lovely and special time of year where we can hope to soon forget that we live in a city that has terrible weather for most of the year.  And on that note... here are the great opportunities for serving at Breakthrough this month!

MAY MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

• Thursday, May 12th - Men's Facility 
• For the Men's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help prepare and serve food - and set up the dining room.
• Friday, May 20th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft or music and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.

HUNGER WALK
This year's Hunger Walk is right around the corner!  On the morning of June 25th, Breakthrough will participate in the Greater Chicago Food Depository's 26th annual 5K walk against hunger. The walk will be held in and/or around Soldier Field. Our goal is to show up with at least 100 walkers and to raise $15,000 for Breakthrough's Food Depository account. We need you to come out and walk with the Breakthrough team on the 25th, to help sponsor walkers and to recruit other sponsors and walkers!  I'm already registered and we'll be meeting as a group that morning for a "pep talk" by the un-coach, Don.  If you want to support the cause, just go to Breakthrough's Hunger Walk page (http://bit.ly/jrEjeA) and click "Donate" and/or "Join Team".  

Please contact Joe Hofbauer (jhofbauer@breakthrough.org or 773.346.1782) if you're interested or need more information.

SPORTS SERVING OPPS
There are some other fun & sporty ways to volunteer at Breakthrough - here are some of those opportunities that Breakthrough's fabulous Volunteer Coordinator, Tim, passed along to us.  Take a look and see if it might be something you're interested in checking out.

(1) "Home Court" is a Breakthrough event on Friday evenings from July 8th to August 12th. It's focused around a competitive 20-team youth basketball league, as well as free food for the community, art projects, music and fun activities. We're looking for coaches for some of the younger age divisions and for groups who would be interested in sponsoring one of the nights -- grilling and serving the food and helping to run some of the activities. If you know of anyone interested in this opportunity, please have them contact Rusty Funk, our Sports Coordinator, at rfunk@breakthrough.org or 773.722.0179 ext. 221.

(2) We are also looking for a set of baseball coaches for our 5th and 6th grade teams. This commitment would be from late April through late July. Rusty Funk (rfunk@breakthrough.orgor 773.722.0179 ext. 221) is the person to talk to about that opportunity as well.

FACEBOOKFind Breakthrough on Facebook, and tell a friend about Breakthrough at facebook.com/brkthru.

OUR WONDERFUL BLOG
Don't forget to check out our blog: http://wcbreakthrough.blogspot.com/. This blog keeps an archive of all the monthly update emails, and there's also a lot of unique information here that's just good to know as well as great updates and other opportunities to get involved at Breakthrough. Feel free to bookmark the blog for easy reference.

Love and Hugs -
Amanda (&Don)

Email - Volunteer Update - April 2011

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
Sorry for the delay in getting April's updates out.  Please take a moment to see what's going on and how you can help.  :)

APRIL MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops this month:

• Thursday, April 14th - Men's Facility 
• For the Men's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help prepare and serve food - and set up the dining room.
• Friday, April 15th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.

FACEBOOK
Find Breakthrough on Facebook, and tell a friend about Breakthrough at facebook.com/brkthru.

MATCHING DONATIONS TO HELP BREAKTHROUGH FIGHT HUNGER
If you've been considering making a financial donation to Breakthrough, now is the time.  Join us on the mission to fight hunger as a portion of our proceeds are matched by The Feinstein Foundation between now and April 30. Simply write "Feinstein Challenge" in the memo/notes field when sending your gift.

Help us reach our goal of 1000 gifts of $50 or more to HELP FIGHT HUNGER. We want to reach a goal of 1000 DONORS STRONG who will provide a gift of this amount or more by April 30. DONATE NOW.

OTHER VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Click this link to be transported to our wonderful blog and learn more about other great opportunities to get involved at Breakthrough.

Other Volunteer Opportunities

(1) We're looking for lots of volunteers to help with the first annual East Garfield Park Olympic Youth Sports Festival, to be held at Westinghouse High School (3223 W. Franklin Blvd.) on Saturday, April 23d. Volunteer tasks include helping with food, serving as security/way-finding, helping with specific sports and doing registration. Interested volunteers should contact Liz Laird at elaird@breakthrough.org or volunteer@breakthrough.org to sign up -- or they can call her directly at 773.346.1771.

(2) We are also looking for a set of baseball coaches for our 5th and 6th grade teams. This commitment would be from late April through late July. If you know of anyone interested in this opportunity, please have them contact Rusty Funk, our Sports Coordinator, at rfunk@breakthrough.org or 773.722.0179 ext. 221.

(3) The women at the Joshua Center are beginning a project to create a blanket together to donate a child in need through an organisation called Project Linus. We're looking for fabric for the blanket. If you know of any resources that we could be connected to, or if you have any fabric lying around that you could bring in, all will be appreciated! Please bring donations to the Joshua Center or contact Lisa Wiese at lwiese@breakthrough.org or 773.722.0179 ext. 213.

Great Ways to Help Breakthrough

Spring is here and we've just been offered an exciting opportunity! Join us on the mission to fight hunger as a portion of our proceeds are matched by The Feinstein Foundation between now and April 30. Simply write "Feinstein Challenge" in the memo/notes field when sending your gift.

Let's take action for those in need:

Help us reach our goal of 1000 gifts of $50 or more to HELP FIGHT HUNGER. We want to reach a goal of 1000 DONORS STRONG who will provide a gift of this amount or more by April 30. DONATE NOW.

Find us on Facebook, and tell a friend about Breakthrough at facebook.com/brkthru.

Send us your volunteer pics! Go to our new Breakthrough Gallery or our Facebook page to upload your volunteer photos and receive a Breakthrough T-shirt.

Support Breakthrough’s future through Planned Giving. Include Breakthrough in your will or donate up to $100,000 from your IRA. Go to breakthrough.org/plannedgifts for more information or contact us at 773.722.1144.

Email - Volunteer Update - March 2011

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
You've survived February! Good for you!  Now give yourself a pat on the back and come on out to volunteer with us at Breakthrough! 

MARCH MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops in March:

• Thursday, March 10th - Men's Facility 
• For the Men's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help prepare and serve food - and help set up the dining room.
• Friday, March 18th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.
  

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.

Superbowl Party II

A great time was had by all on Sunday evening as the men gathered at Breakthrough to root against the Packers and Steelers (in my case I was rooting against the Steelers more than I was against the Packers). It was a great time shared by the guests and employees of Breakthrough and they were gracious enough to host us and our 5 Loaves group from Willow Chicago. As is our tradition we had t-shirts available in the team colors - black and gold for the Steelers fans and green and gold for the Packers backers. The Steelers shirts seemed to be in much higher demand.

We kicked off before the Superbowl with Mike Yeh sharing the first half of a stirring message. That guy gets EXCITED for our God! It was a great way to get started. Right before kickoff we dug into the superbowl feast of all feasts... the type that has you doubled over in pain by halftime. We had:

• 21 racks of ribs which came to about 65 pounds of tender juicy babybacks dressed in a spicy rub and slathered in a few coats of Sweet Baby Rays sauce
• 300 wings (that's the equivalent of 600 for those of you that call BW3's a wing) tossed in some secret scary sauce from Adam Walls which I am sure killed any germs that may have been lurking nearby;
• 20 pizzas from Malnati's which probably weighed in at 150 lbs or more;
• an awesome full sheet cake that probably should have had a Bears emblem served with the softest richest ice cream I have had in a long time;
• and a keg of root beer which I witnessed Adam drink more of than I thought humanly possible.

All said I am pretty sure the average calories consumed was close to 5 or 6 THOUSAND. Not to worry - we will be serving salad for the guys at dinner when we are there Thursday. They will hate us but I will remind them that they ate a week of dinners on Sunday. :-)

If this sounds fun let me know know - we would love to have you join us next year!

Time for Healthy Snacks?

One of the things I've been thinking about is how to make sure that our residential guests get healthy snacks, especially for the long period in between lunch at noon and dinner at eight PM. I was recently talking to a Breakthrough volunteer who told me that although she's not able to commit to volunteering with Manna because she travels frequently for work, she'd love to drop off an appetizer or snack-type dish for the guests occasionally. If you know of anyone who might be interested in this, please pass along my contact information.

Again, thanks so much for all your work, and have a good day!


Tim van Alstyne

Manna Ministries Coordinator
(773) 346-1744

Email - Volunteer Update - February 2011

Below is the monthly email update for February 2011

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
Snow kept you in recently?  Get out and volunteer with us!  You can stretch those cooking muscles and even dine on the fruits of your labors!

FEBRUARY MEAL OPPORTUNITIES  

Here are the details for the meal serving ops in February:

• Thursday, February 10th - Men's Facility 
• For the Men's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help prepare and serve food - and help set up the dining room.
• Friday, February 18th - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.

OUR WONDERFUL BLOG
Don't forget to check out our blog: http://wcbreakthrough.blogspot.com/. This blog keeps an archive of all the monthly update emails, and there's also a lot of unique information here that's just good to know. Feel free to bookmark the blog for easy reference.

New Opportunity - Breakthrough partners with Whole Foods

The Breakthrough Fresh Market will be partnering with the Gold Coast Whole Foods store to provide donations of food. We're very excited about the wider variety of food this will enable us to offer to East Garfield Park community members, and we are looking for volunteers who can commit to helping us pick up the food. This will be on either a Wednesday morning or a Friday morning from 7:30am to 9am. People interested in volunteering to do this must have a valid driver's licence and must be willing to drive Breakthrough's cargo van. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please have them contact Erin, the Fresh Market Volunteer Coordinator, at 773-346-1743 or <freshmarket@breakthrough.org>.

The Big Serves were a success!

Here's a note we got from the Manna Ministries coordinator, Tim van Alstyne, who helped us at the Men's Big Serve last month.  We served the guys restaurant-style and gave them their choice of shrimp and/or steak and lots of really great side dishes.  It was a lot of work - but as you can see from the feedback below, it was well worth it!

Hey Amanda, Don & Co.,

Thanks so much for all the work you put into doing a restaurant-style meal for the guys yesterday! I actually had one of the guys come up to me today; he said "That was the best meal I've had since I came to Breakthrough! I woke up this morning and didn't even need to have breakfast because I was still full from last night!"

Please let the rest of the team know how awesome they are, too! :)


Tim van Alstyne

Email - Volunteer Update - January 2011

Below is the monthly volunteer update I emailed for January 2011:

Greetings, Wonderful Breakthrough Volunteers!
As we recover from this past Holiday season and look forward to the new year, know that many of you were a huge blessing in the lives of the guests staying out at Breakthrough.  Thanks for all your help to make these special serves truly special to those that were able to experience it.  You guys rock!  :)
 
JANUARY MEAL OPPORTUNITIES 

Here are the details for the meal serving ops in January:

• Thursday, January 13th - Men's Facility
• Friday, January 21st - Women's Facility (AKA Joshua Center)
• For the Women's Meal, we need volunteers willing to help lead a craft and volunteers to help prepare and serve food.

Let me know if you'd like to sign up for either or both of these meal times and I'll make sure to reserve a spot for you - and feel free to invite friends that might be interested.

 
OUR WONDERFUL BLOG
Don't forget to check out our blog: http://wcbreakthrough.blogspot.com/. This blog keeps an archive of all the monthly update emails, and there's also a lot of unique information here that's just good to know. Feel free to bookmark the blog for easy reference.

Love and Hugs -
Amanda (&Don)