Dear GFAGC friends,

We can never thank our donors and volunteers enough for supporting us and providing resources for at-risk youth all year long.

In January 2020 our calendar was full of plans for the upcoming year and we had no idea that the Coronavirus would drastically change them. God did know what was coming and what we would need to continue ministry in the year ahead though.

He provided for us through the faithful and compassionate help of our donors and volunteers.

All year our Prayer Impact Team continued praying twice a month and our church representatives on our GFAGC Model Replication Committee continued to meet using Zoom. Our new Workshop Supervisors, Lynn Clark and Nancy Raz, and their team spent hours and days preparing and directing our Workshop move and then setting up the new Workshop too!

God is so good to Gifts For All God’s Children!

Below is a recap of 2020:

February 2020 was extremely busy!

• 24 members of our leadership team gathered for prayer and planning at our Leadership Briefing
• A wonderful appreciation brunch was held for our awesome volunteers.
• Prayer for the City was held at Faith Troy.
• Our team won our game in the Family Feud, a fundraiser put on by Trinity, Utica and our silent auction items raised much needed funds!
• Volunteers from East Bethlehem and Outer Drive Faith in Detroit held Valentine parties for children in their community.
• An Eagles for Children grant allowed us to take our CKC Tutoring students to see Disney on Ice.
• At St. Philip Lutheran Church in Detroit, 57 ministry representatives from 24 sites joined us to look back at Christmas 2019 and connect with one another.
• A webinar was held in Ann Arbor with Rev. Dr. Rob Kasper, Assistant to the President of the LCMS Michigan District. Patti, Dr. Ingrid Draper, Carlyn Roth, and Susan Gawencki discussed our successful year-round GFAGC Ministry Model and how churches can replicate it. Watch it here.

March 2020

• The first week of March 1500 hygiene kits were assembled for use in our Easter baskets.
• On March 12 CKC Tutoring ceased.
• Easter basket assembly could not take place even though all our goodies and supplies were ready to go.

May 2020

• GFAGC Board President Marsha Bauer assembled 759 “Spring Bags” that were distributed to children from 19 different ministries in Detroit and Pontiac.
• A socially distanced move took place from our Shelby Township Workshop building to 2 sites.
  • Christmas went to Redemption Lutheran Church in Sterling Heights.
  • Easter, School Supplies, and School Uniforms were moved to Trinity Lutheran School in Warren.

June/July/August 2020

• 5 weeks of camp were canceled at East Bethlehem due to COVID even though we had staffing for all 5 in place through our partnership with Camp Restore Detroit, Woodside Troy, and other volunteers.
• 2 weeks of Virtual Summer Camp were successfully held in July with “Camp Bags” filled with daily lessons, crafts, and goodies given out to the families before camp started.
• Thanks to a two-year grant from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League our students participated in IXL online learning throughout the summer.
• July 14 at 6:00 pm Christmas in July was held virtually featuring Emcee, Jennifer Ann Wilson of WXYZ, and Dr. Chad Audi President and CEO of the Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, and included an awesome online auction. Click here to watch Christmas in July. 

August/ September 2020

• 932 children from 17 ministry partners in Detroit and Pontiac received backpacks and school supplies packed at our Trinity Warren location primarily by Karen McClelland, GFAGC School Aid Chairperson.
• Thanks to a grant from Meijer on 8 Mile Rd and our donor support, 57 children (accompanied by a parent or grandparent) were able to pick out a pair of new shoes for fall.
• School Uniforms were provided to 47 children from East Bethlehem and to Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.
• GFAGC Christmas Kickoff was held via Zoom with representatives from our recipient groups.
• CKC Tutoring leadership began weekly meetings with Bill Field to develop a Virtual CKC Tutoring Curriculum utilizing Microsoft Teams, IXL, Storyline Online, and Newsela, paid for in large part by the grant from the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League.
  • Our CKC Virtual Tutoring Pilot began with 1 tutor and a 5th-grade student. Between September and December, he progressed 30 percentiles according to his standardized testing!

October 2020

• CKC Sundays began from 2:30-3:30 pm every week utilizing Zoom and the SuperBook curriculum.
• CKC Sunday Bags were distributed to the families containing 12 separate weeks of crafts, coloring sheets, etc. that corresponded to the Bible lesson that would be taught each week and labeled with the date they would be used.
• East Bethlehem volunteers began calling each family each week to invite them to CKC Sundays and ask for prayer requests etc. We are very happy with the success of CKC Sundays and in December distributed bags for January -March 2021!

November/December 2020

• 1500 age-appropriate Hygiene Kits were assembled in preparation for distribution at Christmas.
• 2,400 children received more than 12,000 gifts
• We provided gifts for 48 different sites
• Recipients are in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Genesee, and Marquette counties
• 1,407 children were shopped for at our Christmas Workshop at Redemption Lutheran Church in Sterling Heights
• 7,035 gifts were distributed from our Christmas Workshop
• View our Christmas Summary here
• Watch our Behind the Scenes Video of our 2020 Christmas Workshop.