Hoskins Park Ministries » volunteer

Thank you and Thanksgiving

HPM — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:25:09 +0000

Paige, Johnny, Tom and the entire staff and Men of Hoskins Park would like you thank you for your continued support and especially your thoughtful Prayers.

The Thanksgiving Baskets that we asked for help were delivered to 30 families in the Hoskins Neighborhood this past Saturday, November 6, 2010.

What a great support of the outreach efforts of the Men of Hoskins Park Ministries to the surrounding community!

Imagine homeless men coming to YOUR door and giving YOU a Thanksgiving Basket, what a difference just the presence of this Ministry is having in the Hoskins Community!

So with that momentum that the Men have, we must now turn our attention to Christmas, as Thanksgiving events are already filled with church and life group support.

We are so grateful to our Lord for this continued support.

I will be sending Paige’s exact plans and dates on a later email, but here is the basic plan:

Decorate the Men’s houses on Saturday, December 4, 2010 from 9AM to 1PM.

The Christmas Party for the Men will be Tuesday, December 7, 2010 from 6PM to 9PM.

As in the past, we would like to give each of the Men a gift card along with some basic personal items.

Once again this year, life groups from Philadelphia are taking a 5 day vacation to come to Hoskins
Park to serve for the Christmas Party event and have donated $500 for the gift cards.

We also have 2 individual families planning for the Christmas Party, but we still need everyone’s
support to provide fellowship for the 53 Men that depend upon us for help.

The deadline for having all donations into Paige for the gift cards and Christmas Party volunteers is Friday, December 3, 2010.

Please contact Paige Vestal at paigev@truevine.net to volunteer and donate.

Once again, thank you all for your Prayers for the Men of Hoskins Park Ministries and the staff that cares for them every day.

God Bless.

Thanksgiving Baskets

HPM — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 22:27:42 +0000

All:

This year for Thanksgiving, the men at Hoskins Park Ministries are putting together Thanksgiving Baskets to give to their neighbors in the Hoskins Community.

After years of you guys giving to the men, they would like to start their own outreach program to the community surrounding them.

What a gift you have given Hoskins Park, the example of unconditional love and giving, and having these men start to consider the needs of others in their community.

The items that we are putting in the Thanksgiving Baskets are as follows:

1 box of Mashed Potatoes
2 boxes of stove top stuffing
4 boxes of Mac n cheese
1 or 2 cans of pumpkin pie filling
2 cans of green beans or a large can
2 cans of corn or a large can
1 large can of chicken broth
1 large can of yams
The cost is about $30 for each Basket.

Life Group and Hoskins Park Volunteers Meetup

HPM — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:46:12 +0000

Tom Wheeler, Johnny Allen and Paige Vestal would like you, your life group and groups from all the churches that have shown interest in Hoskins Park Ministries to a meeting to update you on the calendar of upcoming events for 2010.

The meeting will be at Forest Hill Church on Thursday, March 4, 2010 at 6:30PM, room to be announced.

Although the meeting will be at Forest Hill, groups from other churches are very much welcome, as helping the needy has no borders.

I would especially hope that people who have been on our update email list but have not supported Hoskins Park in the past would attend this meeting.

Tom, Johnny and Paige will update you on the Hoskins Park Open House, Life Group Appreciation Day and the Christmas Party for 2010, as well as other needs of the Ministry.

If you have not heard Tom speak before, you are in for a treat!

Please reply to me at BillDinkel@aol.com with your intention to attend.

I will email you with the room location as soon as I have the room reserved.

Thank you so much for your interest and support of the Hoskins Park Ministries.

Bill Dinkel

Service Opportunities at Hoskins Park

HPM — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:16:23 +0000

Tom, Johnny and Paige would like to thank all of you for your fellowship and support of Hoskins Park Ministries during 2009.

2010 is starting quickly with opportunities of service to help change lives.

Paige would like a life group or two to volunteer to host a Super Bowl party at Hoskins Park. Cable and a TV are available and there are over 50 guys that would love to eat some wings and pizza, watch the game and maybe share their stories of salvation.

Also, there is talk of another new house that will be available for occupation. Since we still have not completely furnished the last new house, the need for pots, pans, vacuums, furniture, etc. is very great.

The pantry is almost bare again! Individual servings of can veggies, meat and soup as well as toiletries are in great demand. As you know, when a new man arrives at the Ministry he has nothing. The Ministry provides a small starter package of basic toiletries, soap and food to last him until he can qualify for food stamps and government assistance.

Please contact Paige Vestal at 704-400-9755, or paigev@truevine.net if you can help with any of these items.

Also, there are a few openings to provide and serve dinner at Hoskins Park. Please be prepared to serve over 50 men for each dinner. The dinner opportunities are posted for registration at the Forest Hill web site at ServeNet:

http://www.foresthill.org/southpark/hoskins-park.cfm

Thank you all for your service, and God Bless.

Post from HPM Volunteer

HPM — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:02:24 +0000

We’d like to thank Talbot Davis for serving at HPM. His blog is: The Heart of The Matter… Please visit his site and say Thank you!

Christmas Plans Update

HPM — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:56:42 +0000

Paige has an exciting event planned for this year, so please contact Paige at paigev@truevine.net, or call her at 704-400-9755 with your interest in helping with this year’s events.

You may also go to the Hoskins Park web site at http://hoskinspark.org/ to see all the volunteer opportunity details for the Christmas party and there is also a link to Paige’s email.

We are in need of volunteers to help decorate some of the mens’ houses, provide desserts for the Christmas party as well as provide items for gift boxes and gift cards for the 45 men that are served at Hoskins Park.

Please mark your calendars with these dates of upcoming events at Hoskins Parks Ministries:

12/05/09, Saturday,9:30AM-1:30PM
Decorating each house at HPM with festive Christmas ornaments

12/08/09, Tuesday, 6-9PM
Christmas Village at Hoskins Park

Celebrating the birth of Christ on the Beach by the Pond

There is also an opening for the 3rd Monday of each month to pick up dinner for the men at Nobles at South Park and deliver and serve to the Ministry.

Please contact Paige with your interest in these two events also.

God Bless you all for the hard work you have provided the men of Hoskins Park, and thank you for your continued support.

Bill Dinkel
704-488-2488

Open House Reminder!!!

HPM — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:05:14 +0000

This is the last reminder that you are invited to the 3rd Annual Open House at Hoskins Park Ministries this Saturday, September 26th, from 11AM to 2PM. Lunch will be at the Pond. Please RSVP to Paige at paigev@truevine.net, or 704-400-9755 with how many from your Life Group will attend if you have not already done so. But even if you don’t RSVP, please feel free to show up.

Thanks! -Tom Wheeler, Exec. Dir.

“Whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did to me.” Matt 25:40.

Evolution of HPM's Pond

HPM — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:17:16 +0000

The Hoskins Park Ministries pond has not always been the beautiful sanctuary it is today. Well, it was beautiful before, but it has blossomed into what it is today over many years of hard work by everyone that loves HPM! Here is the photo story from the original pond to what it is today.

Story of the HPM Pond! Started in 2002, completed in 2008

Johnny Allen moved onto the property (currently Hoskins Park Ministries) in 2001 and I moved in Easter Sunday of 2002. You will see the pictures of the property when we lived on it way back then! It was just a large field with the empty houses and a lot of trees! Check out the large tree in front of 111 S. Crigler Street! It dwarfs the house! That was the first tree that we took down back in 2002. You will also notice the current pond area was full of trees and shrubs as well, that made it impossible to even see the house next door (120 Cromer). It was loaded with poison ivy too. I used to be covered with poison ivy from spring to winter as I cut all that shrubbery out myself (with the help of some great tree folks, when they were too large for me to handle myself). And of course some of the men helped out.

The early days long before the current pond:

As you watch the pictures, just remember that the cross you see is in the same place as it has always been. Everything changed around the cross rather than the cross changing around any other object. It will give you a reference to the changes made to that area. Speaking of the cross, it came from Forest Hill Church. When FHC was building their new facility, they had to enlarge the parking lot. Few people knew there was a cross in the woods … but it was a place I used to go (as did others at FHC) to pray. It was a tranquil spot. In fact, that cross was also there during the days of PTL, when it was located at the property now owned and occupied by Forest Hill Church. Anyway, as the story goes, I happened to be at the church when the bulldozers were going to plow down that cross to make a parking lot. I asked the man running the bull dozer if he would gently push it down without destroying it so I could take it to my house. He said fine and did! I got some friends and we loaded it onto a pick up truck and put it in the back yard of my house off Archdale road. That is where it stayed until I moved into the Hoskins Park area, again, Easter of 2002. So that cross is really a piece of Forest Hill Church (and PTL)! But its God’s cross representing His Son, which is the point. It reminds us of the reason for doing the work we do – because Christ died for our sins, has completely forgiven us for all our faults, and asks us to love Him back by loving His poor. Furthermore, you will also notice that there was no Gazebo at Hoskins Park back then. That was added around 2003 or early 2004. That has never moved either, as you watch the pictures. The first pond was put in sometime in the 2003/2004 timeframe as well and then the pond as you see it today was started in 2005/6 and finished in 2007/8. It took us about two years to complete that pond from the original one.

Evolution of the current pond:

Another interesting point was the reason for the larger pond. It really was out of my frustration with a waterfall! I was trying to build a waterfall for the little pond (it was a plastic pond you put in yourself) but when it was done the waterfall leaked so bad that the water was always missing from the pond (I did not seal the cement so it leaked through it)! I dug up my custom made water fall to fix the problem and then we just kept digging! We dug the hole (that eventually became the current pond) and as it got larger and larger we liked what it was evolving to so we kept going. That took about a year! Finally we prayed for God to provide someone to help us finish what we had started (since we didn’t have the money or expertise) – but we did have a vision of the big picture of what it would look like. I was rummaging through “pond” books and checking out other ponds around to make this one great! Anyway we prayed that God would provide and He did! I went to church one morning during that time and I approached a fellow I knew and he flat out asked if we needed anything at Hoskins. I had not said a word to him about anything. But I answered his question and told him about the pond. He donated all the funds to pay for the pond as you see it today! And he recommended a guy he had recently met to do the work (Johnny from Ponders Pond Construction)! It was ALL God! As you look at the pictures, just remember you are looking at about 6 years of His Story. And thanks for checking out God’s work at Hoskins Park! To Him be the glory!

Special Thank you to Kurt's House Volunteers!

HPM — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 23:47:09 +0000

There is a lot of credit due to all the men at Hoskins Park who worked on Kurt’s House. But Bobby Clark and Tim Renard (pictured below) were the two main men who completed the house and who reside with us at Hoskins Park Ministries. They are awesome carpenters! They also are skilled in plumbing and electrical work. I cannot say enough about how talented these two men are – thanks to both of them! We’d also like to thank Dan Hephner Plumbing, IES Electric and Barnett HVAC for their support of our work. They too were a blessing from the Lord. The city also played a part so thank you too for helping us expand our work. And for all of you who prayed and send financial donations, well, we couldn’t have done it without you either! Thanks so much for your help and continued support! We can all see the fruit of our labor from the before and after pictures! To Christ Be The Glory!

Bobby Clark

Tim Renard

I would also like to thank Randy Millot (pictured below) for re-building the foundation of Kurt’s house, an essential element of any house, and Steve Wile, who helped with the carpentry.

Randy Millot

Thank you to all our volunteers!

-Tom Wheeler, Exec. Director, Hoskins Park

Up Coming Events

HPM — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:49:41 +0000

Tom, Johnny, Paige and all the staff and men of Hoskins Park continue to be thankful for your prayers and support in these times of greater need. They also are prayerful that you and your families are healthy and fruitful.

This is just a short reminder of upcoming events and needs at Hoskins Park:

* There are now 38 men being served at HPM.

* The most recent house to be opened for housing is still in need of dressers, night stands and lamps.

* The pantry is in constant need of canned foods and toiletries.

* The Forest Hill CityServe is rescheduled for Saturday, April 18 from 10:30AM – 1PM. Thanks to all who have already signed up to help.

* The 3rd Annual Hoskins Park Open House (open to everyone) is scheduled for May 2, from 11AM – 2PM. More information will be coming on this great event. The past 2 years, we have had fellowship with over 150 people, including neighbors living around the Hoskins Park Campus

* There are volunteer opportunities for meal preparation and service for most Thursday’s and Friday’s. Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s are full each month, and we thank every life group that has volunteered for these monthly meals that the men really enjoy!
Click link below to signup on the Servenet list:

http://foresthill.volunteerhub.com/Events/EventGroupSummary.aspx?EventGroupID=2194

Paige is welcoming other churches to Hoskins Park Ministries to participate in these rewarding volunteer opportunities.

If you have not volunteered or visited Hoskins Park Ministries, please do so. I think the volunteers that help out there come away more fulfilled than God’s least that they are trying to help.

Paige can answer any questions, or help with volunteer opportunities, by calling her at 704-400-9755, or her email is paigev@truevine.net.

Thanks to all that serve, and may God Bless.