Photo: Little Eva Alvarado will be able to start kindergarten with plenty of school supplies thanks to the Pancakes, Pencils and Prayers event at Good Hope Baptist Church Saturday morning.
This event today has been unbelievable and also very humbling, especially in times like right now.”Hillary Alvarado
GOOD HOPE – On Saturday, Good Hope Baptist Church hosted a pancake breakfast for the community. During the event there were free school supplies for students in need. Afterwards, the group met together and prayed at Good Hope Primary School and then traveled to Good Hope Elementary, Middle and High Schools for campus prayers.
“We are very blessed to have church members that go above and beyond to help,” said Deidra Wix, church member and first grade teacher at Good Hope Primary. “They are always so good to come out and help. We really want to show the community that we care. We aren’t just here for Sunday service; we are here for all their needs, not just spiritual.
“Here at the church, our hearts are burdened for those in our community,” she continued. “We want to invite them in to feed their hunger needs and their needs for school supplies. We also want to just love on them a little bit, too,” she smiled. “We have really been focused on reaching out to our community. We are right here in the middle of the schools and the Good Hope community so we just wanted to open our doors and let the community in.”
Pancakes and school supplies aren’t the only things the church was offering the community Saturday morning. They were also offering prayers for a safe and fun school year.
“When we leave here today, we are going to stop and pray at each of our schools,” Wix explained. “We have talked to all the principals beforehand and they have all been very positive and have really encouraged us to come and get this school year started off right.”
Good Hope Baptist Church has also started a backpack food program for the children at Good Hope. Last year was their first year hosting the program and they were able to send food home, in backpacks, for 14 children at Good Hope Primary. This year the program is expanding to cover needy children at Good Hope Elementary.
“We know when children are at school they are able to eat breakfast and lunch, but over the weekends the food sometimes is slim,” she frowned. “This program is free through our ministry; all they have to do is sign up. Oh, and we also send food home to the children’s siblings, so they don’t have to go hungry either. We are very excited about this and hope to be able to expand even more next year.”
“This event today has been unbelievable and also very humbling, especially in times like right now,” said Hillary Alvarado holding back tears. “We have really been going through some hard times. My husband lost his job, so at the moment, we are kind of homeless. Thank God he found another job last week, so hopefully we will get caught back up soon,” she grinned. “We have five children starting back to school this time; it’s been really hard. The least little bit has been a big help, a true blessing.”
For more information about Good Hope Baptist Church, call 256-734-5932, email administrator@ghbcnow.com or go to their website at www.ghbcnow.com.
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