Joy Box Love
Mobilization Funding | 2022-2023
Bundle Up Burton
Our goal was to Bundle Up Burton Elementary with 439 warm coats, hats, and mittens for winter, but we bundled like never before, collecting enough not only for all 439 kids at Burton, but also Godfrey Lee Elementary with 21 coats, Buchanan Elementary with 60 coats, Caesar Chavez Elementary with 30 coats, and Dickinson Elementary with 74 coats! In total, we Bundled Up 624 kids— that’s 185 beyond our goal!
Setshabelo Family and Child Services
Our Mobilization + Renewal pastor, Denise, traveled to Botshabelo, South Africa to visit our Ministry Partner Setshabelo Family and Child Services where she delivered 235 fidget toys to orphaned and vulnerable children and 65 gift bags to SFCS staff. Want to join her next trip? Stay tuned for how to get involved in the coming months.
20 Liters
In October, our staff visited 20 Liters to build water filters. We were there less than 2 hours and built 245 Household Filters. These filters will make dirty water clean for 1,225 people and produce 24,500 liters of clean water every day. That’s 8,942,500 liters of clean water every year for at least the next 10 years.
Grace's Table
We delivered 25 gift bags filled with books, journals, and other goodies to Grace’s Table, an organization working with teen moms. An additional 25 homemade blankets and lovies were later given to Grace’s Table by one of our community members, Lil Overton.
We also donated over 2,800 diapers and a double stroller. We believe teen moms deserve hope, mentorship, hospitality, and the benefit of a team that will help them find resources, learn life skills, and gain access to healing through mental health support services.
AYA Youth Collective
100% of the nearly 500 unique youth who drop in to AYA Youth Collective every year [whether virtually or in-person] will receive basic needs, resource connection, and advocacy support, thanks in part to a grant from Mars Hill. Your Joy Box giving in action!
70X7
In partnership with 70x7, a West Michigan organization helping individuals stay out of prison for good, we contributed and helped distribute 300+ pairs of pajamas for children of incarcerated individuals for Christmas.
Formula Shortage
Over 400 cans of infant formula were collected and distributed to more than 150 desperate parents during the formula shortage, resulting in full bellies and [hopefully] happy babies.
Holland High School
Over the last few years, we’ve been working to help decrease the infant and birth giver mortality in the Black community where evidence shows racism and implicit bias causes the most hardship. Our commitment is to train birth doulas or birth assistants.
Our Pastor of Mobilization and Renewal spent a day with 20 Black female students at Holland High School to promote birth plans for Black women as a lifesaving effort and to consider the birthing industry as a vocational option.
I AM Academy
Partnering with I AM Academy, a Holland organization helping to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline system in 2 school districts and 5 campuses with 80 students, we helped host a Juneteenth celebration where we gave out 276 ring pops to kids or kids-at-heart who came to the festival.
We also provided financial assistance for youth programs which are consistent with our commitment to racial initiatives and vulnerable children.
In addition to monetary gifts, our staff has attended their annual gala, and accompanied them on their mission trip to Memphis, Tennessee. We also proud sponsors of the Juneteenth Freedom Festival.
Ukrainian Refugees
Working with International Needs, we provided bundles of warm clothes, blankets, a camp stove, and food to 10 Ukrainian families trapped in conflict zones.
Campus Elementary
Nearly 500 snacks were sent to the Campus Elementary kindergarten classes to keep students nourished and brains engaged in learning.
Helping Our Local Community
We delivered 5 carloads of our furniture, toys, and supplies to Little Angels Family Childcare, an up-and-coming licensed home daycare started by a member of our own community.
Supporting Teachers and Schools
To kick-off the school year, we filled up 2 tables worth of school supplies for teachers, staff, administrators, bus drivers, lunch room attendants, volunteers or anyone else who makes school happen, and of course students. Everyone was welcome to take what they needed for themselves or a class.
Students In Action
Students In Action, a group at Jenison High School, has been doing remarkable work to make sure every student feels like they belong. They invited our Mobilization Pastor back for a 3rd time this year to continue a discussion about pushing back against the “either/or” mentality.
Mobilization Funding | Summer 2021
Overview- Nearly $200,000 of Joy Box funding was given away over the course of this past year to help make measurable change all around our city and world. This is part of what it looks like to be a Jesus people for the sake of the world. Thank you for your generous and faithful giving to the Joy Box every week!
South East Market
We purchased a delivery van for South East Market, whose mission is to increase access to healthy, affordable and culturally-accepted food for our community through a sustainable and equitable lens. This enables them to provide free grocery delivery to 49507, the Grand Rapids neighborhood most impacted by food insecurity.
20 Liters
We partnered with our longtime friends at 20 Liters who make dirty water clean for the most vulnerable, and sent a shipping container of supplies for filters and rainwater harvest systems to Rwanda in response to the increasingly urgent need due to COVID-19.
Bethany Christian Services
Through Bethany Christian Services, we funded foster care placement for 20 sibling pairs who were separated from their parents at the US/Mexico border. We also provided full trauma-based training for parents, trauma counseling for children, and a dedicated advocate supporting the family and working to reunify the children with their families.
Sacred Beginnings
This organization is the first survivor-led peer mentored program in Michigan for women who have been sexually exploited/trafficked. Funds went to a transitional home for victims of human trafficking + salary of a Resident Assistant to walk with these women, helping them transition safely back into society.
Affinity Mentoring
We gave funds to our friends at Affinity Mentoring to support the hiring of an Office Coordinator who will help the organization expand their reach to more at-risk children and their families as well as build more equitable educational systems.
Treetops Collective
Through our partnership with Treetops Collective we were able to support their Concentric Program. Through Concentric, New American families work together as they navigate what it means to not just survive here but to put down deep roots and truly thrive.
Partners Relief + Development
With the help of our friends at Partners Relief + Development, we provided monthly support for 111 Rohingya children to attend school, have a daily meal, school supplies, teaching materials, and teachers salaries.
Solutions To End Exploitation
We are helping to fund the Collective Data Against Labor Trafficking Project, which is the 1st cooperative initiative to gather Labor Trafficking data so systemic change can be made in policy and practice in an area that is under-reported and often not tracked or researched.
Western Theological Seminary
We partnered with three organizations, Western Seminary, Words of Hope, and Harbor Churches, to equip and train Iranian pastors for ministry in the fast-growing underground church in Iran.
New City Neighbors
We directed funds to a greenhouse for New City Neighbors, an organization centered around youth development on the Northeast side of Grand Rapids. Every summer they employ and train neighborhood high school students in all aspects of organic vegetable farming as well as curriculum around job skills, food justice, anti-racism, food + faith, and more.
Bundle Up Burton
In partnership with Affinity Mentoring and Coats for Kids, we provided enough coats and gloves to ensure that all kiddos at Burton Elementary were able to have warm bodies and fingers throughout the freezing Michigan winter. No cold kids at recess if the folks at Mars Hill Bible Church have anything to say about it!
Grace's Table
Thanks to your generous Round Up giving, we were able to purchase 48 Hope and Hygiene Kits for teen moms and their kiddos who are connected to Grace's Table. Each kit is filled with essentials like diapers, wipes, and shampoo.
AYA Youth Collective
As a community, we collected 130 pairs of name-brand shoes and socks for AYA Youth Collective, an organization that serves 14-24 year olds facing homelessness and instability by providing drop-in opportunities to rest, safe and affordable housing with peers, and mentors who partner in their transition to stability.
We can't thank you enough for all the ways you support our mobilization and renewal efforts here and around the world. If you're like us and this email left you warm and fuzzy and completely inspired to give to the Joy Box, visit marshill.org/give.
Mobilization Funding | Summer 2020
[Overview]
$150,000 of Joy Box Love was given away over the course of Summer 2020 to help make measureable change all around our city and world. This is part of what it looks like to be a Jesus people for the sake of the world. This funding emphasized three themes:
- Development: Continuing to help organizations build important infrastructure to strengthen their foundation, and ultimately expand their capacity and impact for the long-haul.
- COVID Response: Helping provide necessary funds to help organizations stay afloat and weather the storm, as well as care for and empower those they serve.
- Racial Equity + Justice: The orgs we support serve and empower traditionally marginalized populations. We have selected these partners, in part, because they are working hard to not only provide relief/care but also to get at the root causes [like systemic racism + inequity] impacting the populations they serve.
20 Liters | Operational support for stateside staff, and support for Rwandan staff + programming to continue providing access to clean water in Rwanda, East Africa.
Affinity Mentoring | Financial support for the hiring of a new Office Coordinator position, which will help the organization expand their reach to more at-risk children + families as well as build more equitable educational systems.
Be the Bridge | A national faith-based organization that helps equips individuals, churches, and organizations in their work toward racial justice + reconciliation.
Grace’s Table | Assistance with the programming + resources needed to help empower and support teen moms and their families
HQ/3:11 Youth Housing | Grant funding toward the Comprehensive Health Initiative, which provides youth experiencing homelessness with consistent access to holistic healthcare opportunities.
Solutions to End Exploitation [SEE] | Development an online hub for West MI providers to report and coordinate care for trafficked people (police, fire, social service providers, medical care).
Treetops Collective | Supporting New American women, teens, and families through operational support, social enterprise improvement, and the development of a Community Connector leadership development program which expands their reach to 8 different language groups
West MI Churches Helping Churches COVID Fund | Targeted support to churches from under-resourced West MI churches in Asian, Black, and Hispanic contexts who have been disproportionately affected by COVID. Allotted funds go to staff salary, care + support for congregation members, technology, and facilities.
World Relief Congo | Supports 5 key programs within their Church Empowerment Zone network - supporting 300 churches in Savings for Life Program, Sexual + Gender Based Violence, Peace-Building Initiatives, Agriculture + Food Security, all of which are trauma-healing informed.