Updates on Mission at Compton Heights Christian Church
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Gypsy Caravan Nets Compton Cares over $1000
Our day at Gypsy Caravan started ominously: we arrived on the grounds at 6:30 a.m. to find the canopy we had set up the night before collapsed, and some of our boxes containing sales items soaked through when our tarps were dislodged by the wind and rain that accompanied a fierce lightning storm about 4 a.m. At first, four of us just held up the four corners and bailed water, while we called for reinforcements from others. Help arrived when Darrell showed up with clamps and two-by-fours, and Liz arrived with towels, a plastic bin, and Pepsi. I went off in a corner and quietly sang the words to the plains Indian sun song. Once the canopy was stable, Kathy, Marsha, Norm and I were able to dry off and arrange some of our 153 items that Compton members donated for the sale. We opened for business at 9 a.m.--a couple of hours late--and an hour later the rain stopped. By 2:30 p.m., the sun was almost out and the crowds were busy going through some 330 different vendors' wares in two parking lots at the University.
Some of our makeshift tent repairs can be seen here, as Dave bargains with a wary buyer, Leslie guards the cash box and Norm ponders the scene. Behind our booth was a ditch full of rainwater and just an hour earlier, two geese and their 7 goslings floated by on their afternoon swim. In the foreground are two of the 8 quilts and quilt tops... we gave up hanging them from lines under the eaves of the canopy after it became so unstable.
These photos were taken about 3 p.m. When the sale ended at 5 p.m., we had only a few boxes of unsold items to pack up, and the tent to take down and the tables to stow in the Hughes' van and ours. We had sold 7 of Mary's 8 quilts/quilt tops and--BREAKING NEWS--just tonight we sold the last remaining quilt, the yellow/floral block one, to a Friend of Compton and quilt collector who e-mailed us from Florida saying his check would be in tomorrow's mail. So tonight, our net profit from this fundraiser for Compton Cares is $1,018. A big THANK YOU to everyone who donated, helped price and set up, worked the booth and prayed for the success of this project. Thanks, too, to an old Indian dance master in Oklahoma who taught me a "sun song" many years ago.
Our new sign includes a mosaic from pottery and glass donated by members. Julia Krovicka, an artist who is a Friend of Compton, created our new sign. To visit our church web site, just click on the photo.
Compton Cares has made our building more accessible and welcoming for ministry by renovating the Grand Boulevard entrance to the sanctuary, and adding accessible restrooms and a functional kitchenette on the main floor. Construction started Aug. 29, 2007 and was completed in early May 2008. We celebrated and dedicated the new facilities on June 14, 2008.
Loans for construction did accrue interest, driving up the total cost. A campaign for renewed pledges and new gifts in order to retire the remaining debt of approximately $31,500 (at 3%) concluded in December 2009, with enough in pledges to retire that debt by Oct. 31, 2012. However, as of December 1, 2011, we have enough contributions on hand to retire this debt either by the end of this year or in the first month of 2012! Thanks be to God for this blessing!
Fund Raising
Our goal has been to retire our remaining debt on the Compton Cares project by Oct. 31, 2012, when the 3% loan rate expires. To hasten this process, we have held various fund raisers that everyone could take part in, regardless of their financial situation. Here are totals from these fundraisers to date:
GoodSearch/GoodShop $627.00 eScrip $450.78 (eScrip now benefits the CHCC budget) Change Bank $964.54 Aluminum cans and scrap $595.72+ Gypsy Caravan 2008: $1,133.00 Gypsy Caravan 2009: $969.00 Bazaar 2009: $1,362.65 Bazaar 2010 $1,748.10 Mini-Bazaar 2011 $102.00 Bridgeton Fund Grant: $6,500.00
GoodSearch , an Internet search engine, donates part of its ad revenue to the charity of your choice. Clicking the link in the list below will take you directly to the page for Compton Heights. This site also includes GoodShop, easy to use without registration. New businesses are added to GoodShop weekly so check to see if your favorites are there, or e-mail the GoodSearch folks and they will add one for you! Please check to make sure that Compton Heights Christian Church St. Louis is in the Who do You GoodSearch For? window! Thank you and please keep searching and shopping!
eScrip earns from 1% to 5% and more of purchases. Schnucks Markets is a St. Louis area participant, as is Macy's. Enrollment cards are available at church or at Schnuck's grocery stores. Simply give your eScrip card to the checker to scan every time you buy groceries! All income from eScrip now goes into the church operating budget!
A Change Bank brought in a significant contribution to Compton Cares for 4 years. In 2011 we redirected the change bank into a challenge to help fund a mission trip to India by 4 of our members.
Cans (aluminum only) can be deposited in a large container in the hall opposite the choir room. Please bring them rinsed. When we get 100 pounds collected, the price we receive doubles. At least $600 has been raised for Compton Cares. After the loan is paid off, the can collection will continue, and a new recipient for it will be indicated.
Our day at Gypsy Caravan started ominously: we arrived on the grounds at 6:30 a.m. to find the canopy we had set up the night before collapsed, and some of our boxes containing sales items soaked through when our tarps were dislodged by the wind and rain that accompanied a fierce lightning storm about 4 a.m. At first, four of us just held up the four corners and bailed water, while we called for reinforcements from others. Help arrived when Darrell showed up with clamps and two-by-fours, and Liz arrived with towels, a plastic bin, and Pepsi. I went off in a corner and quietly sang the words to the plains Indian sun song. Once the canopy was stable, Kathy, Marsha, Norm and I were able to dry off and arrange some of our 153 items that Compton members donated for the sale. We opened for business at 9 a.m.--a couple of hours late--and an hour later the rain stopped. By 2:30 p.m., the sun was almost out and the crowds were busy going through some 330 different vendors' wares in two parking lots at the University.
Some of our makeshift tent repairs can be seen here, as Dave bargains with a wary buyer, Leslie guards the cash box and Norm ponders the scene. Behind our booth was a ditch full of rainwater and just an hour earlier, two geese and their 7 goslings floated by on their afternoon swim. In the foreground are two of the 8 quilts and quilt tops... we gave up hanging them from lines under the eaves of the canopy after it became so unstable.
These photos were taken about 3 p.m. When the sale ended at 5 p.m., we had only a few boxes of unsold items to pack up, and the tent to take down and the tables to stow in the Hughes' van and ours. We had sold 7 of Mary's 8 quilts/quilt tops and--BREAKING NEWS--just tonight we sold the last remaining quilt, the yellow/floral block one, to a Friend of Compton and quilt collector who e-mailed us from Florida saying his check would be in tomorrow's mail. So tonight, our net profit from this fundraiser for Compton Cares is $1,018. A big THANK YOU to everyone who donated, helped price and set up, worked the booth and prayed for the success of this project. Thanks, too, to an old Indian dance master in Oklahoma who taught me a "sun song" many years ago.
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