2023 was an exciting year for STG Foundation!
We saw many lives changed throughout the course of the year, and we were able to SHARE A LOT OF GOOD over the span of the year. We are excited to continue making a difference in 2024. A new year brings many opportunities, and we cannot wait to see what 2024 has in store!
WE DID IT
Thank you to everyone who donated during our end of the year matching campaign. Our goal was to raise $50,000 by the end of December. A generous donor agreed to match your donations up to $50,000. Not only was our goal met, you helped us exceed it with $75,000 donated in the last quarter of 2023. This brings our grand total to $125,000 for the end of our matching campaign.
We cannot thank you all enough, and we are excited for the opportunities this allows us to have to make a larger impact in 2024. We can’t wait to share the impact your donations make in our upcoming newsletters. To learn more about how you can donate in 2024, visit our website at https://stgfoundation.org/find-your-cause/. You can also learn more by referencing our frequently asked questions at the bottom of this newsletter.
New Partner: St. Vincent de Paul
Lack of attainable housing has plagued our region for years and only became worse following the pandemic. Those living in poverty continue to face financial hardship. People in a financial crisis who are facing eviction, having utilities cut off, or have other basic needs, will call St. Vincent de Paul’s Assistance Office for help. Assistance for rent and utilities is the largest and longest running program at St. Vincent de Paul NKY.
Last fiscal year, $950,000 in assistance kept over 9,050 individuals safe in their homes. Thanks to your support, from October 1 thru the end of November of 2023, they have been able to provide over $136,000 in assistance to keep 1,360 of our neighbors safe in their homes. Through our financial support, homelessness and/or having life-saving utilities disconnected are averted.
This program is not just a handout. Vincentians often help those we serve think forward to develop a plan of stability. This includes sound advice based on their experience or referrals to partnering agencies who have valuable supportive programming to maximize the impact for our neighbors. Most importantly, our Vincentians offer encouragement to continue moving forward. Cait’s experience below illustrates the care our Vincentians can offer in these situations.
Cait gave birth to a daughter on Dec. 4th . Ten days later, her 4-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia. With her husband working full-time to continue medical coverage, Cait had to balance the care of a new baby with her son’s health crisis on her own. It was overwhelming. Threatened with utility disconnection, she tried to work with the energy company, but did not meet the deadline. Reaching out to St. Vincent de Paul NKY, she was able to pay her bill and the reconnection fee. Incidentally, the person who helped Cait had been through a similar crisis with her own young daughter. The emotional support was just as valuable as the financial support.
To read more stories like Cait’s or to learn more, visit https://www.svdpnky.org/
We are so excited for you to meet this awesome young lady! Hazel of Evansville, IN has a huge heart for helping others. She is a homeschool student who is involved in many activities in her community, including 4-H. This year for her service project, she worked hard to collect canned food items for a local church’s food pantry
STG Foundation was able to join together with some of the children from our families to help collect and shop for canned food items to support Hazel’s mission. In the end, Hazel was able to collect over 500 food items! She posted a video on her mom’s social media after completing her project in which she sends her sincere thanks to everyone who donated saying, “That’s really helpful. Thank you! You are amazing for doing that! So, thank you.” Way to go, Hazel! You are already sharing the good in this world at a young age, and we can’t wait to see what you do in the future!
Feeding the Soul in Immokalee, FL
Located in southwest Florida is an area known as Immokalee. Immokalee is a predominantly migrant area, made up of many Haitian-Creole families. Located in the center of this city is one of two campuses of Fellowship Church. The church operates a food pantry each week, where they receive donations from local Feed America food distributors, such as Harry Chapin and Midwest Food Distributors. During the last quarter of 2024, we were able to provide funds to Fellowship Church of Immokalee for them to purchase a new freezer for their food bank ministry. The food bank serves a couple hundred people from their community each week and provides a bag of food for their households, as well as prayer, for each person that comes through their doors.
With the growing number of people who visit their facilities, they were unable to keep up with the demand using their current food storage. STG Foundation was able to purchase a new freezer to help them continue to meet the needs of their community. The freezer has allowed them to have access to a whole new set of foods from their distributors that were not previously accessible to them. The people of Immokalee thank each of you that made this possible. It would be nearly impossible to share all of the stories from the lives you’ve touched, and our hope and prayer is that this church can continue to be a blessing in their community for many years to come.
To learn more about their church, visit https://www.fellowshipchurch.co/.
Planting Churches and Sowing Roots
Meet the newest church in Knoxville, TN
Meet Pastor Landon and his wife, Leeanna. The couple is from Knoxville, Tennessee, and together, along with the support of their local church communities, are doing some pretty incredible things in their city! When Pastor Landon was a teenager, he heard the call to become a church planter and reach the community they call home. Knoxville is a growing city, with an alarming amount of people who do not claim any sort of religious affiliation. With that burden weighing on their hearts, Pastor Landon and his team are launching Local Church Knoxville.
The vision is to create a church that places emphasis on serving the Knoxville community by engaging with the people in their everyday lives. Their hope is to have their first meeting place established by 2025 and to grow in that space with the long term goal of planting a church in every neighborhood of Knoxville. The cost of their startup is an ambitious goal that includes costs such as finding a space to accommodate their attendees, having the necessary supplies to meet the needs of the people they serve, legal fees to start their official church, etc. STG Foundation was able to send financial support to help them continue along their startup journey.
Pastor Landon asks that you join them in praying for their new church plant by asking God to guide their steps in the process, praying that they will have opportunities and that the community is open and receptive to sharing their message, and that God will continue to meet their financial needs.
To learn more about Local Church Knoxville, visit their website at www.localchurchknox.com
Chemo Buddies of Evansville
Cancer is a scary thing that one can never be prepared to face. The therapies, appointments, and everyday moments are even scarier when you have no one by your side to face them with you. This is where Chemo Buddies steps in! Chemo Buddies was founded by Jill Kincaid after she fought alongside her sister who had cancer. Upon her sister’s passing, Jill started thinking of ways she could carry on her sister’s legacy and continue to support those who are fighting cancer alone. This led to the creation of Chemo Buddies. Chemo Buddies is based out of Evansville, Indiana, and they are the smiling faces that greet every chemo patient they come in contact with. The buddies are there to provide a welcome goody bag and new warm blanket to new patients who are just starting their chemo treatment for the first time. They also sit with patients during treatment and offer support by creating genuine lasting relationships. Most recently, they are now able to provide transportation to and from treatments as a way to further serve their chemo buddies.
STG Foundation was able to send a donation that will go towards their upcoming fundraiser this spring. To learn more about their mission, resources, and how you can be a buddy to the patients they serve, visit their website at https://www.chemobuddies.org/
A New Year Creates New Opportunities!
2023 was a year of growth, with so many exciting opportunities to share the good both in our local neighborhoods and in our world. We met many new faces and have had the opportunity to create new lifelong relationships. None of this would’ve been possible without our Share the Good community and sponsors. Sharing these stories with all of you has become one of our favorite things, and is something we look forward to every new quarter. We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, and we know that none of this is possible without your support.
Looking ahead into the new year, we are excited and anticipate this year to be even more impactful than the last. God has already been moving in our communities, and we have already been blessed with many new opportunities for this coming year. We are looking forward to continuing to support some of our partnerships from last year, and have already been in contact with new charities to support as well. As we look into supporting these new charities and continue to provide support to those who depend on us, we ask that you join us in praying for new ways and new opportunities to meet each and every need we encounter. Let’s continue to SHARE THE GOOD in 2024!
SEEKING NOMINATIONS IN 2024!
If you would like to nominate someone in your life who goes above and beyond to SHARE THE GOOD in this world to be featured in our newsletter and on our Facebook page, please send us an email at [email protected]. We love hearing stories of how people are making a difference, and we feel that deserves to be celebrated!