Great and Mighty Things
Associate Pastor Julie Welborn
Greetings, LaSalle! This March marks my 9th year serving as Associate Pastor. It has been quite a journey, and I am in awe of the Goodness of God that I have witnessed and experienced this year. I look forward to all that God has in store for me and us as a community in the days ahead.
Jeremiah 33:3 says: “Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”
Malachi 3:10 says: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”
These verses of scripture have manifested in tremendous ways for our Breaking Bread and Senior Market outreaches.
In addition to your generosity in purchasing coats, shopping for extra groceries, donating your time and finances, we have secured and nurtured amazing partnerships with outside organizations that together have more than met the needs of all who come through our doors in need.
In response to the dismantling of SNAP, we were able to put in place practices that have literally created a situation where we did not have enough room to receive all the donations. But believe me, we found a way and continue receiving our daily bread, plus some.
We have secured partnerships and vendor support from:
Chicago Food Rescue, where we receive bags of fresh bagels delivered weekly; vanloads of fresh produce, meats and non-perishables from Fresh Market on Wells, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Amazon;
Kraft/Heinz, donating enough product to fill 6 8ft tables;
Pilsen Food Pantry, donating close to 200 deli sized hams;
The Trails School for Early Learning and the Jenner School created food drives just for us and delivered all the donations right to Cornerstone;
Renaissance Hotels calls me several times a month to pick up items that includes slats of water and snacks;
Greenberg Traurig Law Firm provides weekly pans of high end food that typically is enough to provides 2nds at Breaking Bread;
The Chicago Help Initiative, compromised of several churches, provides close to 200 bag lunches weekly for our guests to take home or for anyone who stops by and is hungry;
Students from the Latin School have provided prepared lunch bags;
The Greater Chicago Food Depository, we are in partnership with Copia, a conglomeration of restaurants that regularly drop off prepared meals and lunches;
Local restaurants have donated close to 100 turkeys;
Allstate donated over 20 large containers which we regularly use;
COMED came onsite to pass out over 100 bags that contained smart energy products, as well as quarterly dropping off smart products in bulk;
Owners of the Holiday Inn Skokie & Skokie Banquet & Conference Center have prepared, delivered and served 2 full meals for our Breaking Bread guests.
And this list isn’t exhausted, as there are so many other individuals that have contributed throughout these past 6 months.
In addition to serving meals weekly and fresh produce bi-monthly, we have Food Tables available to anyone during the week from 10am-6pm. Our lobby is always filled with folks from the community stopping by to shop from our abundance.
People are overwhelmed and so appreciative to come in our doors and not only receive food, but receive authentic love, compassion, and generosity.
Breaking Bread continues to thrive serving close to 200 meals every Wednesday evening. We continue celebrating birthdays and playing Bingo on first Wednesdays, sing Karaoke on 2nd Wednesdays, and often have musical guests come and play and sing during dinner. We continue strive to remain proximate with our guests, highlighting their humanity, and letting them know that they are seen, not forgotten.
Our Christmas dinner on December 17, served close to 400 meals. We also handed out over 300 brand new winter coats. Everyone who requested a coat received a coat. Sonya Blakey joined us as our musical guest leading our guests in caroling. Her presence was amazing, bringing everyone to their feet.
We continue handing out toiletries, socks, gloves, hats, blankets, and extra food every Wednesday.
Ronnie Purifoy, a member of our TLF staff and kitchen staff for Breaking Bread, received his Food Sanitation License which allows him to take on more leadership in the kitchen.
LaSalle Neighbor’s Senior Market continues 2nd & 4th Tuesdays 10am-1pm, serving close to 200 families with fresh groceries. In addition to receiving groceries, our guests gather for coffee and community.
We recently started Zumba classes, led by Patricia Brown, Maple Pointe resident, and it is now a part of our monthly rhythm. It has become so popular with the neighborhood residents, we have extended the class to meet on 1st and 3rd Tuesdays from 11am-11:45am in Leslie Hall.
So yes, Lasalle Family, God continues to show us great and mighty things. We are so very humbled that God has chosen us, can trust us, and has called us to be his hands and face. We will continue stewarding well the things God has entrusted to us and look forward to continuing to see the Goodness of God.
Thank you again for your partnership in establishing the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.