2nd Annual Back-to-School Big Give!

Living Hope Church held our 2nd Annual Back-to-School Big Give yesterday afternoon. I can't express how much I love this event and how proud I am of our church for pulling it off! We give away new backpacks full of school supplies, free haircuts, fingerprinting, facepainting, Bibles, food, games and prizes. When you see these kids' faces light up when they get their new backpacks or young ladies in tears because they're getting their first professional haircut in years (this year we had several stylist from the Paul Mitchell Acadamy), it's almost too much to take. I don't know how many times I had to wipe a tear out of my eye yesterday. There were around 450 in attendance yesterday and everyone had a great time.

As usual Jamie did a FANTASTIC job of organizing the event. I was really proud of her. It was a much smoother event than last year. She's amazing and adds so much to our church!

There are always funny things that happen at these events. Last year we thought it would be good to have cartoons playing on the big screen for the kids. I got a DVD of Looney Tunes videos thinking it would be a safe choice. Boy was I wrong. Big-time racist images and I was more than a little embarrassed. This year's funny thing was great, though. Attendees had to register and get a ticket to pick up their backpack and a ticket to get their snacks. We were able to save about $15 by purchasing this roll of tickets that was a little different. CLASSIC LIVING HOPE MOMENT!!! (Picture of ticket below and more pics of the event.)