With Our Gratitude

This past week and this upcoming weekend, we have been hosting extra events as our local part of National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. We have called our local campaign #END, looking to END hunger and Homelessness in our neighborhoods and cities. The Macon County Continuum of Care, Advisory Committee spearheaded the planning of this year's events.

November 14 was Box City on the Campus of Millikin University. Millkin Students and members of area congregation's youth groups joined together to learn and in a small way, experience a night of homelessness.

November 19, individuals were taken on a different type of trolley tour of the city, heading past many of the agencies which work with hunger and homelessness issues on a daily basis. Members of our community who had been homeless and now are successfully on the other side shared their stories.

This weekend, a young man as put together a food drive on the west side of town to serve as his Eagle Scout project. Kudos to Ben Young and his family and friends for taking that service project on. And on Sunday, First Baptist Church is hosting a concert featuring "Dual Piano" to bring awareness to the issue and to collect warm items.

Thanks to our local media that has shared time to bring some awareness of these issue to their viewers and listeners and readers.

NHHAW is schedule each year the week before Thanksgiving with the thought as before we gather with our friends and families, we take a moment to reflect and do something to help those who find themselves in need. The week is almost over, but you can check Dove's website to continue to keep informed and to see what events are coming in the months to come.

Thanks to all who made the plans, to all who participated in the events and to the many, many who donated time, talents, funding and items this week. We are grateful for it all. And please let us be among the many to wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Comments

You don't have to be able to Dance to do Baskets

Growing up in the world of dance, one of my favorite things to do each year is participate in The Nutcracker Ballet. My favorite part? Giving the audience a magical Christmas experience with the perfect setting of lights, music, glittery costumes, and refined steps by ballerinas. The audience is transported to a magical land of sweets that makes even adults feel like small children in awe and wonder. Of course, that’s just what the audience sees! What they don’t see is the months and months before hand! Long rehearsals, bandage wrapped dance feet, and stage and tech crews working tirelessly so that every detail before the final show is perfected. After several years, I have started comparing the Christmas Baskets Process to that of the process for The Nutcracker Ballet. Starting months and months before, staff and volunteers work endlessly for the exhilarating distribution week to come. With that said, the magical essence of the Ballet experience cannot happen with just the prim

“have you talked to a trained domestic violence advocate?"

Have you ever had a victim of domestic violence try and open-up to you about their abuse and you not know what to say or how to handle it? Have you found yourself asking a victim of domestic violence, “why do you stay?” Moultrie County Dove Office understands that without being properly trained on domestic violence and best domestic violence practices, it is hard to know what to say or do when a victim of domestic violence finally decides to open-up to you about their abuse and we want you to be better prepared. Asking a victim of domestic violence “why do you stay” can place emphasis in the wrong place and make the victim feel as if they have done something wrong. In all actuality, there are many reasons victims of domestic violence stay in and return to abusive relationships. Victims of domestic violence stay in abusive relationships for fear for their personal safety and the safety and well-being of their children. Statistics show that a victim of domestic violence is at a 75%

Doing our part to make a difference.

With so much talk everywhere on issues of violence, once again a topic discussed at the CONO (Coalition Of Neighborhood Organizations) meeting this past month in wonder of how to stop violence from happening in our community. Let’s consider narrowed down, violence begins in neighborhoods, no matter where they are. Cities including Decatur, have Stop The Violence campaigns and rallies in order to take a stand and to bring positivity and hope which is so important! But I wonder, doesn’t the remedy lay within each one of us? We must not close our eyes or turn a deaf ear, right, and when we see something, yes, we must say something, but isn’t there more? Doesn’t there need to be hands reaching out to one another in solidarity and hope with a goal in mind like the future of our family, neighborhood and ultimately our world. It begins in a neighborhood, your neighborhood and mine. So, if you don’t already have an active neighborhood group in your area, will you consider starting one? If so

Dove, Inc.

Search This Blog