Serve! with Steve Sjogren - The online ezine about outward focused living.

What did you think of "Quick Ideas You Can Use Right Now"?
	Great Article! Very well written!
	Good Job. It made good sense.
	Ok. The author got his/her point across.
	Didn't capture me
	Didn't like it!

View Results

More question and comments about this article? Send a comment to the Editor and let us know! We may print it in the next issue in "The Mail Room" section.

Quick Ideas You Can Use Right Now
By Janie Sjogren

Donuts and Drinks Give-Away (Idea #3 & #10, from 101 Ways to Reach Your Community)

Anytime is donut time-try campuses, commuters and shoppers to find thankful folks!

HIT THE HUGE SALE DAYS: Consider arriving an hour before the stores open on the Friday after Thanksgiving-surprise the early gonzo-sale shoppers with donuts and coffee!

DONUTS - Ask your local donut shop for quantity discounts, glazed are easiest to handle.
COFFEE - Many stores offer coffee-to-go containers and will supply cups, lids, creamers and sugar/non-sugar packets.
REMEMBER to bring a table, wax paper (for handling donuts), Connect Cards, wet wipes for clean up, and trash bags so the mall doesn’t curse you.
BE WILLING to take a risk. One of our favorite outreaches is to grab a gallon of milk, some juice, and a few dozen donuts and visit our local police station or firehouse. They will laugh about the stereotype at first, but it is a wonderful icebreaker that leads to great conversations with the remarkable men and women that serve our community. These are the folks that run into danger when evryone else is running away from it. A small gesture of kindness is the least we can do for them. Here is a little secret firefighters and police officers love to be prayed for!

Plan now to do Free Christmas Wrapping (Idea #61, from 101 Ways to Reach Your Community)

Wrapping gifts is a great chance to spend a few minutes with people who are often in a hurry and stressed out! As you wrap their 2-3 (set a limit) gifts, let them know that you are all volunteers, not hired by the mall, and that you do it to let people know that God loves them.

GET YOUR SUPPLIES - Wrapping paper (include a Hanukah blue paper), paper roll carousels, 3M Bow-Magic bows, tape, scissors, Connect Cards, post-it type notes to label gifts, and pens and tables. If you have a great Christmas play, have flyers handy.
DECIDE WHERE - The malls and local chain stores are the modern-day town centers where all walks of life and cultures gather. A store will not typically allow evangelistic efforts, however they are often very open to you offering a FREE service to their customers.
DETERMINE HOW LONG - One day or multiple days, make sure you don’t bite off more than your people can chew! Consider partnering with other churches to fill the slots (i.e. a wrapping shift may run two hours, an overseer shifts may run 4 hours).
TRAIN THE WRAPPERS TO DO A GREAT JOB - Free shouldn’t be shoddy, have a mini-training beforehand if needed. Many volunteer roles are needed besides precise wrapping, i.e. greeting, handing out numbers for waiting, refilling supplies for wrappers, and bringing water to wrappers and guests….

Business Blast! Give-Aways to Workers

What about the worker who has to put up with all us crazy shoppers? Bring a treat to the workers in small zip-lock bags with a Connect Card like “Thanks for serving!” Goodies might include mints, gum, small taffy, and individually wrapped chocolates. Strip malls are great for this blitz.

Last, but definitely not least, don't forget the soldiers.

No matter what your political stand may be, the young men and women that serve our country deserve public support. Make it a point to always keep an eye out for them in the marketplace. Offer to buy them a meal, a beverage, or even just offer a ten second prayer:

Thank you for Sgt. Banes. Thank you that she has decided to live a sacrificial life for our community and country. I ask that you would protect her wherever she is dispatched. Hover over her and her comrades. I ask that you giver her strength to do duty and give her peace and rest. Make the sad and dangerous things she sees fade, but fill our memories with fond times with her friends and the adventurous places she gets to visit. Amen"

WORST YARD CONTEST!!

Find people in need of some help by looking around your neighborhood and noticing the most neglected yard. Often the story is heart-breaking and you will have come in time of need. One elderly lady who answered the door apologized that her son “had been sick and he’s the one who usually does it.” The mother was in her nineties and the ailing “son” was 75!

Some neighborhoods have curb pick-up for fall leaves, which makes the project go pretty fast.

Lawn mower
Trimmer/edger
Leaf blowers
Rakes
Yard waste bags
Yard gloves
Connect cards
Smiles!

Keeping Your Volunteers Motivated!!

If you’re leading volunteers, be sure to let them know how valuable their service is. People choose to serve again - or not to - based on the experience they have each time.

Think the project through beforehand-don’t make volunteers wait for you to get your act together:

Prepare the Give-Away items to give out, with Connect Card either attached or with items and cards already divided into bags of 50 each.
Provide maps with your cell number (or the leader of the project’s cell phone number) to all drivers, and get the cell phone numbers of each driver! Many a great volunteer got discouraged when they lost us in traffic.
Did you remember tables, chairs, ice, transportation, maps, cameras, and water for workers?
Take the lead in opening and closing the outreach with a short prayer. Remember that the leader is the main cheerleader-not the main do-er.
Monitor your volunteers to make sure they have what they need-Beverage? Bathroom break? Band-aid? Have a first-aid back-up plan.
Make sure everyone knows WHEN TO END the event (about an hour after they arrive at the give-away site) and WHERE to meet afterward for debriefing and food.
Give time to listen to people’s encounters, thoughts, fears, successes and often the funniest, the failures. Always have a first-timer share how it went.
Celebrate one another’s efforts! Remind everyone that small things done with great love is changing the world!

Adapted from the great little resource: 101 Ways To Help People in Need by Steve and Janie Sjogren, pg 23, NavPress, available at PrettyGoodBooks

WHERE TO GET CONNECT CARDS AND "101 Ways..." BOOKS

To order your custom connect cards: http://www.prettygoodbooks.com/Connect_Cards_C10.cfm

To order your outreach idea books: 101 Ways to Reach Your Community, A Handbook for Servant Evangelism, by Steve Sjogren: http://www.prettygoodbooks.com/101_Ways_to_Reach_Your_Communi_P9C1.cfm

101 Ways to Help People in Need, A Project Handbook for Ministry to the Needy by Steve and Janie Sjogre: http://www.prettygoodbooks.com/101_Ways_to_Help_People_in_Nee_P10C1.cfm

Return to Top | Table of Contents | Back Issues

Stay Equipped to Serve