Helping Hand

We did something today I would not mind doing more of.  I saw there were a heap of like minded people.  We set up a marquee with a table and chairs and brochures.  We were there for a couple of reasons.  We wanted others to be aware of us and to find out who else was out there helping out in our community.
We did not need an introduction to ourselves as we knew what we did.  Our church is called N3C which stands for New Creation Christian Church (3 c’s).  We also have three c’s for Church, Community, Care.
The community element includes a food pantry which includes free vege’s and bread.  It is proving to be more and more popular.  I must admit when I am working in the church and feel a bit peckish I head straight for the biscuit section.  I am never disappointed.
But I do find the same principle applies there as everywhere.  Never ship when you are hungry.  Like everywhere I would like to buy everything when I shop when I am hungry.
But what we were doing today was making ourselves known.  I have found it to be true that people cannot do anything if they do not know.  So what we were wanting to do today was network.  It was important that people knew about us and could send people our way when we could meet specific needs and we could send people a way that we felt could help.
It seems to me to be very important to fill a specific niche and do it well.  There are some very complex needs out there and people do stuff like providing housing and things we would love to be able to do but anting to and being able to can be very different.
I was really surprised to see the number of stalls coving disability needs.  With the NDIS it is an area being covered way more than it used to.  It is amazing how hard people with disabilities it is to find work.  According to a figure given me today it is estimated one in four people have at least a temporary disability.  Naturally there are long term needs but often people fail to realize that some conditions are brought on by the current climate or the straw that broke the camels back.  
One thing we know we do well though is provide for spiritual and emotional needs as well as providing low-cost food.  The way costs have skyrocketed in recent times many are experiencing difficulties making ends meet.
Meeting people from Lifeline and St Vinnies was no surprise as we are meeting similar needs.  It was great to hear we are all in this together and rather than competition we are pooling resources and putting the person first rather than the marketing.
Merril and I did this for the first time.  We know it will not be the last.