Bringing Life This Thanksgiving

This year, Karen took to documenting her FriendsGiving story on social media, inviting people to contribute when and where they can, and sharing stories of encouragement and radical kindness along the way. 

"So many are needing help. I gave it some thought and decided that this is the opportunity to partner with Canyon Ridge's community partners. Again I picked up 100 bags. God will provide the number of bags that need to be filled."

For Karen, Club Christ stood out with the way her own story relates to the organization. "I grew up in the projects in Southern Colorado. My mom was a single mom and raised seven children on her own. She worked as a maid and we lived on Government Assistance. I told people, 'just because one lives in the projects or lower income areas does not mean that they are not hard workers.'"

When Karen reached out to Club Christ, she had 57 FriendsGiving bags. Family, friends, and people in her community rallied together; even people she's never met from church gave what they could. 

However, one story, in particular, was of a man named Josh. "God played a big part in having this man whose generosity left me amazed, speechless, and tearful." After seeing Karen's video playing at church, Josh reached out to Karen, who, at the time, had 30 bags filled. Karen and Josh met at the grocery store for the first time, and Josh helped gather enough food and items for an additional 30 bags. 

Then, sharing the story of Josh on social media, she ended up raising $600 in 24 hours. At the end of this journey, 67 people came together to live out generosity to fill a total of 128 FriendsGiving bags for Club Christ families. 

From filling FriendsGiving bags to delivering them, with her friend and client Sheriff Joe Lombardo rallying his people from LVMPD to help deliver the bags to Club Christ, generosity marked each step of the way. 

"I'm one person, and I give all the glory to God for placing everyone in my path this Thanksgiving Season." Through one person's obedience to the Spirit's prompting towards generosity, she created the opportunity for people to rally together and partner in bringing life to Las Vegas!