Hoskins Park Ministries

Thank you for all your prayers and continued support of this Ministry.

As you strive to get your families back to school and your Life Groups back on schedule, please keep in mind the following urgent needs at Hoskins Park and Blessings:

Blessings In The Storm now has 4 houses that serve 10 children, and their mothers, that are in need of school supplies before August 25. Paige will accept donations at Hoskins Park Monday - Friday from 8:30AM to 5PM and Saturday from 10AM - 2PM until schools starts.

The items needed are:
Book Bags, Pencils, Pens, Markers, Notebooks, Paper, Glue Sticks, Crayons, etc.
The mothers need Laundry Detergent, Cleaning Supplies and Toiletries.

Hoskins Park needs are:
Pantry Items including Toiletries, Cleaning Supplies and the regular Food Items.

These items can also be left at the Forest Hill 2nd floor office as well.

Hoskins Park is also in need of Volunteers to man the Receptionist Desk in the Office every Monday & Wednesday from 9AM - 5PM. This can be done in shifts of 4 hours each. Please contact Paige at 704-391-3033, or 704-400-9755, or email her.

For other serve opportunities, including serving meals and morning Prayer Time help, sign up at the SERVENET.

Thank you so much for all your help and God Bless

Bill Dinkel

There appears to be some confusion on the most recent email sent concerning the houses and the needs.  Back in January there were some houses acquired by the ministry that were not vacant and could not be used by HPM until they were vacated.  Two of those houses are now vacant and ready to be occupied by HPM residents.  The needs for twin mattresses for these houses are the most pressing issue.

We have been fortunate enough to have 4 mattresses purchased for two sets of bunk beds in one of the houses.  What we are still in need of are TWO twin bed sets, mattress and box springs for the other recently vacated house.  These must be new.  As always the pantry needs as described in yesterday’s email are needed.  Those needs are once again listed below.

The Pantry is in need of very specific items that are used for new residents. When a new resident arrives at Hoskins Park, they are given new socks, boxer underwear, pillows, bath and hand towels. These items and the food and toiletries in the Pantry help sustain these new residents until they qualify for food stamps, and/or find a job.

HPM is now out of the socks, boxer underwear, pillows, bath towels, hand towels and other toiletries such as soap, deodorant and razors that are needed for this new population as well as the normal turnover that occurs each week.

Paige would also like six Life Groups to sign up for a monthly dedicated Pantry Committee. Similar to the Life Groups that are currently committed to providing dinners to the men of Hoskins Park on an monthly basis, Paige would like to develop that same commitment with the major stocking and organization of the Pantry that would be in addition to the regular everyday smaller donations.

Your prayers and thoughts are the most important support that you can provide to this fast growing and most needed Ministry. We thank you for them during Tom’s sabbatical and always.

As you may know, HPM obtained 5 houses a few months ago that were occupied and we were awaiting their vacancy. Two of those houses are now vacant and we need six twin mattresses in order to populate these two houses. The six twin mattresses have to be NEW, we cannot accept used mattresses. Any donation, either monetary or NEW mattresses, would be greatly appreciated.

The Pantry is in need of very specific items that are used for new residents. When a new resident arrives at Hoskins Park, they are given new socks, boxer underwear, pillows, bath and hand towels. These items and the food and toiletries in the Pantry help sustain these new residents until they qualify for food stamps, and/or find a job.

HPM is now out of the socks, boxer underwear, pillows, bath towels, hand towels and other toiletries such as soap, deodorant and razors that are needed for this new population as well as the normal turnover that occurs each week.

Paige would also like six Life Groups to sign up for a monthly dedicated Pantry Committee. Similar to the Life Groups that are currently committed to providing dinners to the men of Hoskins Park on an monthly basis, Paige would like to develop that same commitment with the major stocking and organization of the Pantry that would be in addition to the regular everyday smaller donations.

Forest Hill has developed a web based sign up process for you and your Life Group to volunteer for these and other needs that are listed on the web site on an ongoing basis.

Please go to www.foresthill.org and follow the directions to to help Hoskins Park Ministries / Blessings in the Storm.

Johnny Allen has asked if any Life Group or individual would like to help conduct some of the daily, morning Prayer Times for the men of Hoskins Park.

Dear friends of Hoskins Park,

I would like to share with you a new and exciting opportunity to help Hoskins Park.   Panera Bread in Ballantyne is willing to donate their unsold bread to the people of Hoskins Park one day every week!   Volunteers are needed to pick up the bread on Wednesday evenings (about 9pm), and then deliver it to Hoskins Park on Thursday afternoons (between 12 and 3pm).   If you would be able to help out with this endeavor, please visit www.FoodRescue.net and click on “Schedule”, then ”Charlotte Schedule”, choose a day that works for you, and let me know and I’ll put you on the schedule.  There are also more detailed instructions on the web site.

This is a wonderful opportunity to not only “rescue” perfectly good food from the trash, but to benefit those in need at Hoskins Park.  Please forward this information to your life groups and anyone else you think may be interested in serving.

Sincerely,
Jocelyn Challas
FoodRescue volunteer & FH-Ballantyne Impact Coordinator

I would like to thank every one of you for your dedication to Hoskins Park Ministries during the first half of 2008.

As Life Groups take a break during the summer, please do not forget about the needs of Hoskins Park, they do not take a break.

The Pantry, as well stocked as it was at the 2nd Annual Open House, is now EMPTY.

All Pantry donations for both Blessings and Hoskins Park should be delivered directly to Hoskins Park at 107 Cromer Street. Donations are accepted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 AM to 2 PM.

Donations may also be dropped off at the storage bins to the right of the 2nd floor office door at Forest Hill Church

Please call Paige Vestal at 704-400-9755, or email her to arrange a delivery.

You Are All Invited To Johnny and Margaret’s Wedding at Hoskins Park!

Johnny and Margaret would like to invite everyone to their wedding this Saturday, May 31, 2008 at 3PM at the Hoskins Park Ministries Campus.

We all wish Johnny and Margaret all the best in their new partnership.

What a blessing this wedding is to everyone associated with Hoskins Park and Johnny and Margaret.

Please attend and there is NO RSVP needed.

May God Bless this Marriage and this Ministry.

Tom, Johnny and Loretta would like to thank everyone for attending the 2nd Annual Open House. There were over 200 people that attended the event and enjoyed fellowship, food and a great day in the sun. The men, women and children of Hoskins Park and Blessings in the Storm took pride in the food preparation and tours of the campus.

As a bonus, several representatives from church families other than Forest Hill were present showing their support of this Ministry and we all enjoyed their fellowship as well.

I would like to encourage ALL groups (not just Forest Hill Life Groups) wishing to volunteer for Hoskins Park and Blessings service that are NOT ALREADY ON A ROTATING SCHEDULE for service, to volunteer through the Forest Hill Web Site Volunteer Hub called Servenet.

Rather than calling Paige Vestal to volunteer, please follow these instructions:

Log onto www.foresthill.org.

Click on “Serve Others” on the left side of the Home Page, or the “Serve Others” button at the upper left corner.

Click the Blue “Volunteer Now” Button at the bottom of the page.

Click one of the “Sign In” Buttons.

If you have signed on before, sign in and “jump to” Hoskins Park and go to the Date and Event that you want to volunteer.

If you have not signed on before, create your User name and Password and fill out the requested information, click Finished and “jump to” Hoskins Park and go to the Date and Event that you would like to volunteer.

After volunteering for the Event, you and Hoskins Park will both be sent a confirming email for your Service.

If you have any questions about these instructions or the SERVENET program, please contact me at BillDinkel@aol.com, or 704-488-2488.

Hoskins Park has volunteer opportunities for meal preparation, pantry stocking and organization, office help and Saturday projects listed on this Servenet.

Thank you so much and may God Bless you all.

Just one last reminder that the 2nd Annual Hoskins Park Open House will be Saturday, May 17, 2008 starting at 11:30AM through 2:30PM.

Lunch will be served and there will be fellowship for all.

Loretta, Tom and Johnny will have updates to share. We will also discuss the new Forest Hill web site Volunteer Hub that will affect how Life Groups volunteer for service.

Lastly, if at all possible, please bring pantry item donations to address the following urgent needs at Hoskins Park:

Toiletry items: Toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, shampoo, razors, toilet paper and paper towels.

Towels, socks and underwear (boxers size 30-50).

Individual Sizes of: Mac N Cheese, spaghetti sauce, boxes of noodles, cans of tuna or chicken, beef stew, romaine noodles, boxes of rice, beans, canned veggies and fruit, chips, breakfast foods, small boxes of cereal and breakfast bars.

Please call Paige Vestal at 704-400-9755, or click here and email her with any questions. 

God Bless and thank you all for all you do for Hoskins Park Ministries.

Bill Dinkel

There are plenty of new faces at Hoskins Park Ministries and the Pond is completed and looks great.

We are inviting every Life Group and as many of each Group as possible to participate in the 2nd Annual Open House on Saturday, May 17, 2008 at 11:30AM and will last until 2:30PM.

There is NO event this Saturday, April 5.

Details of this May 17th event will follow in a future email.

Tom will update everyone on the many things happening at Hoskins Park and Blessings in the Storm.

If you have not heard, HPM closed on their 17th house this week. 2 of the houses that were purchased last year and had been occupied by non HPM families are now vacant and ready for the Ministry to use.

This will put the population at HPM at 75 men, women and children.

Please plan to attend this event on Saturday, May 17 and participate in this exciting Ministry.

Last year’s event was well attended and lot’s of fun. Please make this 2nd Annual Open House an experience for every man, woman and child of this Ministry to remember.

Thank you for all your help and God Bless.

Bill Dinkel