Benevolent Fund Helps Those in Need
Before Bob retired in December, he regularly administered a fund of the church which was then called the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund. He would receive calls from local folks needing help with food, prescription meds, gasoline and other necessities, and issue checks from the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund to meet the need. In late December 2021, the Pastor’s Discretionary Fund was closed, and the $5631 balance was transferred to a new sub-fund of Outreach called the NPC Benevolent Fund. The new fund is administered by a newly appointed Benevolent Committee, made up of John Luhn, Elder for Outreach, Jerry White, Church Treasurer, and Sherry Perkins.
Here’s how it works. Kim receives a phone call in the church office that a local person has a financial need. She fills out a form with the details of the request for help, and emails that to the members of the Benevolent Committee. They review the request and assign it to one committee member. Further screening of the person seeking help may happen at this point. “Have you already received help from other area churches or helping agencies,” etc.
If a request is approved, a check is issued by the Church Treasurer and is left in a secure location for the requesting person to pick it up. Checks are always made payable to a vendor, like a landlord, grocery store, gas station, or pharmacy, never to the person seeking financial assistance.
The most compelling request of the first four months of the existence of the Benevolent Committee was a request from a mother of three who told the Committee member that she and her three children would be sleeping in their car that night. The Committee approved her request for assistance and gave them a check for $350 made payable to a local motel with which the church had already negotiated a discount rate for a week-long stay. Fortunately, the family didn’t have to sleep in their car that night.
The balance of the NPC Benevolent Fund is now $4424, down $1207 from its January 1 starting point. These funds have been well spent to help some of the county’s neediest citizens to have basic necessities to live. In the first four months of 2022, no donations have gone into the Benevolent Fund, however, because it is new, people didn’t know to give to it, etc. If you would like to donate money to this new fund to help members of the White County community with emergency and basic needs, please designate your financial gift to THE BENEVOLENT FUND. You can do so by check, or with a giving envelope located in the pew racks, or even with an online gift as long as you email the Church Office to let Kim know to designate your gift to this fund. The church’s email address is nacoocheepres@windstream.net.
Isaiah 52:7 says, “Blessed are the feet of those who bring good news.” Sometimes, the good news is, “You don’t have to sleep in your car tonight.”
Blessings,
Teresa