as many of you know, we’ll be serving dinner and throwing a christmas party for our homeless friends under the broadway bridge tomorrow night (christmas eve, 12/24) at 6 p.m. in an effort to not only provide a hot meal, we really hope this is a time to build and foster relationships with the homeless community. rather than perpetuating the “us” and “them” mentality, we think christmas is a great opportunity to celebrate together.
we’re a relatively small group here at eikon trying to make a BIG impact. so many of you have chipped in already to pull this off, by donating things, committing to prepare food and spreading the word (some of you even helped to alert various media outlets to raise awareness). as we’re just about 24 hours away, we thought we’d give an update and offer an opportunity to help in the 11th hour.
FOOD: just to switch things up a little, we’ll be having a mexican food theme. at this point, we have the major food elements covered, but if you’d like to make some christmas cookies or brownies or other festive treats, it would be a good addition to our party. (we need to plan for between 35-50 people.) if you’d like to help in this way, you can either bring it and join us a little before 6 p.m. under the bridge or you can contact our coordinator, christen byrd, at christen [at] christenbyrd [dot] com to make other arrangements. (even if you plan to join us, please contact her for planning purposes.)
GIFTS: we’ll be giving gift bags that include practical items that help to survive the frigid temperatures on the streets. while we have collected a considerable amount of items, we could still use any and all donations. here’s a list of things we’ve received and collected so far (numbers are rounded and approximate):
- men’s socks: 100
- women’s socks: 20
- hats: 20
- mugs: 20
- men’s gloves: 50
- women’s gloves: 5
- chapstick: 50
- hot hands packets: 175
- scarves: 20
- sleeping bags: 10
- blankets: 15
- hoodies/fleeces: 5
- coats: (unknown)
whereas a number of these things have already been wrapped/bagged, we certainly could still use more, even if it was just brought down to the bridge at the time of the gathering (though, again, you can make other arrangements by contacting christen with the aforementioned contact information). if you’d like to purchase or donate any of these things, here’s what is most needed right now:
- sleeping bags
- ponchos (there’s a good chance of rain/sleet tomorrow night)
- coats
- hats
we will certainly be glad to give you a receipt for your items for tax purposes.
we really think we have the opportunity to be jesus to a community here in little rock that is often overlooked and pushed aside. and of all times to do it, christmas is a pretty good opportunity.
if you’d like to help in any way or have any questions, here are several ways to do that:
1. contact our coordinator, christen byrd, via email at christen [at] christenbyrd [dot] com, via twitter @christenbyrd or via phone at 501.551.8117.
2. contact our pastor, ryan byrd, via email at ryan [at] eikonthechurch [dot] com, via twitter @ryanbyrd or via phone at 501.551.8118.
3. contact our community leader, john hardin, via email at johnwhardin [at] me [dot] com, via twitter @johnwhardin or via phone at 501.319.5363.
thanks for helping!
