Good Shepherd’s focus was to meet the ever-changing needs of our local mission partners faced with having to care for the most vulnerable among us, the hungry and the homeless.
Galatians 6:2 (NLT)
Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.
At first, Hesed House created an alternate shelter, to which our quilters supplied forty hand-sewn quilts, and our sewing team provided hundreds of face masks.
We continued to respond weekly by donating items on the critical needs list. Then, Hesed House was re-located to a hotel so that proper social distancing could occur. They requested help from Good Shepherd. They needed volunteers staffed at three different times a day to help run meals to 200 separate hotel rooms! Social distancing was significant for the guests, but it presented new challenges for the staff of Hesed House. The Hesed House staff was living there and exhausted, many working 16-18 hours a day. Not only did our Hesed House mission leaders, Matt Hebel and Michelle Kolenda say YES to the request, but they also went above and beyond providing volunteers for a few hours. They each volunteered to stay overnight at the Hesed hotel; Matt stayed for entire weekend! They did this so they could give the Hesed House staff a break a much-needed break. So proud of our Good Shepherd team for jumping in and making an impact!
To show our gratitude for the Hesed House staff has been serving this vulnerable population so incredibly, Good Shepherd created “we care” thank you bags for the team. It included some treats, a card with words of encouragement, scripture, and prayer, something to encourage and appreciate them.
On May 18th, Hesed House was cleared to return to the Aurora location. Good Shepherd provided 170 box lunches for the transition. .
The families remained in a hotel so Good Shepherd catered a Sharko’s BBQ dinner for these families.
Matthew 25:40 New Living Translation (NLT)
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’
Our next serving opportunity will be in July, please check out our community outreach page for details on how to get involved with serving this important mission partner!