Wednesday Word: The Blessings Box

If you've read the March Soundings (http://www.stjohnshagerstown.org/announcements/soundings--2) I hope you had a chance to read the Deacon's Corner.

In this month's article, Dcn. Sue talks about the new Blessings Box that has found a home on the front porch of the office. “Blessings Box” is a bit of a misnomer, as it's really a set of three full-size lockers, the kind you might see in any high school hallway. In fact, I was thinking about calling this new addition “The Love Locker,” but thoughts of Barry White and the B-52's prevented me from doing so.

These lockers are designed to store any number of items, food or otherwise. A list of suggested items can be found on page 11 of Soundings.

We're also working on getting a banner for it that says, “Give What You Can – Take What You Need.”

The idea is that this will be an ongoing, year-round opportunity to provide items for those needing help. People who come to the office asking for Sheetz gift cards now have another source of assistance. And since we don't really specify what goes into the lockers (we just make suggestions), there are no guarantees of what will be placed there. Dcn. Sue imagines that, along with food, school supplies in late summer, gloves, scarves, and hats when the weather turns cold, and personal hygiene items are always needed. As I said, what goes into the lockers is only limited by our imaginations.

Saint John's gives to Micah's Backpack. We give to Families-Helping-Families. We give to Bester Elementary School. This is one more gift that we are offering to the people in our neighborhood and city.

In her Soundings article, Dcn. Sue thanked those who helped make this happen, and I want to reiterate that here: Thanks to Bob Speelman who was instrumental in obtaining the lockers and getting them fit to be placed on the porch. Thanks to Kelly Moore Sheds and Marketplace for donating the three lockers. And thank you to Dcn. Sue for having the vision and drive to making this dream a reality.

I encourage you to take a copy of suggested locker items and put it in your car or in your notebook where you make your grocery list, and the next time you're out shopping pick up a few of those items, swing by the church, and put them in the locker.

And if you don't live in the Hagerstown vicinity, you can always send a donation marked “Blessings Box” and we'll make sure to use those funds to help stock the lockers.

The Blessings Box isn't going to make headlines or garner lots of publicity; but it does reflect part of our Mission Statement as yet one more way we look to Serve the people around us.

Blessings,

Todd+