Ministry Monday: Better 2 Give

3 years ago Rich Palmer and I started an organization called Better 2 Give. When I use the word organization I use it very loosely, but it is coming into its own. Better 2 Give exist to provide tangible ways to help out those in need. The first year we raised just over $1000 and supported a local family here in Cincinnati for Christmas. Both parents were in jail and the kids really needed to experience Christmas we thought so we helped. Last year we adopted an orphanage in Monterrey, Mexico. We raised just over $2500 and was able to support their utility bills for almost the whole year. This year we have found another family here in Cincinnati who could really use the help. This family is the Ingles.

The Ingles have 3 of their own children and they have adopted 9 others, all with special needs. They are a Christian family living in Montgomery - there have been various articles on them and you can read one of them here. While their hearts are accommodating of any situation, their home is not. A neighbor started a campaign to raise funds for a remodeling/expansion of their home. Donations are being accepted through a non-profit entity based in Colorado Springs (thus, donations are tax-deductable). Better 2 Give will be an official 501(3)c in the very near future but the paper work has not gone through yet. We are going to work with the non-profit in CO for now.

What is the best way to give - what are their needs? Remodeling their home is a big need, but you can imagine the monthly budget with trying to raise 12 kids. As you can imagine their food bill is very high. We would like to raise $5000 for this family to buy them a Kroger, Wal-Mart, Meijer, ect gift card that they could use for food and other necessities. We're also checking with these companies to see if we can leverage the $5,000 (i.e. if $5,000 in gift cards are purchased, will they allow the value of those cards to be greater than $5,000).

So how can you help? I think that question is simple. Let me know if you want to give money to help a family who gets the concept that it is Better 2 Give than 2 Receive. I will let you know where you can send the money in CO so that it is tax deductible. On the other hand, if you know of someone at Kroger, Wal-Mart, Meijer, ect that could help us out that would be great.

Remember it truly is better 2 give than 2 recieve.