We Are Speaking Louder Than Before - Food Drive Project

[LauraA]

We are going organize some food drives and will need help for each concert that is coming up. We are in the baby stages, but you will get more info soon.

In the mean time, we need volunteers! If you are going to a concert and would be interested in helping, let me know. Or if you would like to organize a food drive in your neighborhood, church, school or community, please post here.

This is going to be a good thing and will bless many!

[CaraBear]

Me Me Me!!!

[Kelly]

You know I'm in! :)

[LauraA]

Awesome, thank you!
I will know more real soon.

[LauraA]

Ok, we've been given the "go ahead" on this project. We will be putting some thoughts together on how to do this as simply as possible, while reaching as many as we can.

Basically, we will be handing out fliers to try to get people at Jeremy's concerts to hold food drives in their areas. (churches, communities, neighborhoods, etc.) We'll invite them to join the boards here and share their experience with us. We want each family who is fed to also have a card with Scripture, and a list of some solid Bible believing churches in their area.

We are also going to encourage as many of you to also hold a food drive yourself.

Please post here if you will help with this project.

WE ARE Speaking Louder Than Before!

[cori]

i'm TOTALLY willing to help with this project, but someone else in my church has started a food drive ministry in my church. i can help out, for sure, with passing out flyers at concerts & such (although i'm not sure how many concerts i'll be at - the next one is SWC in monterey.....)....

what about putting a copy of sltb in each bag? maybe since i can't do the actual FOOD DRIVE part of it (my pastor would not give the ok for that since we already have a food ministry & our church body is so small), i can buy some of the cd's & send to you guys - who ARE able to do the food drive part - and stick it in with the bag, with the note of hope & other goodies?

just a thought...

in the meantime...let me know if there is another way i can be involved....i really want to do this!!!

[LauraA]

That's awesome, Cori! We won't all be able to do every part of this, but with everyone doing something, we will see results! Thank you!

Just off the top of my head (I'm working on a list) we need help with getting a flier prepared. I have the general idea, but would like input with wording and such.

We'll need ideas to share with people about how to:
1) Hold a Food Drive
2) Find the recipients
3) Divide the food

We will need cards (and CDs would be AWESOME!!!) to place in bags.

Ideas, advice, suggestions, everything.

People to hand out fliers at whatever concert(s) they will be attending.

[LauraA]

Another thought....we might take up to a couple weeks to get the main details worked out, after that, let's advertise on FB and Twitter, MS, etc. Until then, let's just work on figuring out how we will go about seeing this through, as stated in the post above.

[Angie Rose]

:( i would LOVE! to help with this, its an AWESOME way to speak louder than before...

unfortunately (and this absoultely STINKS!!!) i dotn think i will be able to.. since i most likely wont be going to any J shows this year... theres a SLIM chance i'll be going to see him in Texas... but i doubt it... not holding my breath :(

but i WILL definently continue praying for this ministry.. (as usual! :) )

let me know it theres anything else i can do from where i'm at... i am SO bummed!! :(

[Psalms23]

As you know...i am game!

I am talking to Laura on messenger right now coming up with ideas!



The wheels in the Camper's heads go round and round, round and round, round and round...all night long!!!

God Bless,
Aaron

[Kelly]

Oh great, Aaron...now I'm gonna be singing that all night! :p

[Psalms23]

Here are a few things running in my head..

As you all know, I am a photographer..so I am having things printed up all the time...i have a few companies that I do work with.

For expl. on the "verse cards" I can print wallet photos (SunSet + Verse ) to hand out... I can get 72 wallets for about $10

Or the stamper people out there can stamp some also..


On the fliers..I can get 100 for about $10 also..


A friend on mine is a web designer / graphic designer....I might be able to hire him to make us some fliers..

God Bless
Aaron

[Kelly]

Excellent Aaron! :)

[Psalms23]

Oh great, Aaron...now I'm gonna be singing that all night! :p


LoL That is a good thing rrrrrright?? haha :P

[Psalms23]

I had posted this in the SLTB Thread but i thought it would be good to post it in here also..


Last Nov. Laura and I were talking and we had came across a verse that went well with SLTB..

One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city." - Acts 18:9-10

[cori]

I had posted this in the SLTB Thread but i thought it would be good to post it in here also..


Last Nov. Laura and I were talking and we had came across a verse that went well with SLTB..

One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city." - Acts 18:9-10

i love all the ideas presented so far - i'll address it a little more later (hubby is working on his last few assignments for the semester...), but..i just wanted to say that i TOTALLY think this verse should be included on the flyer AND the little wallet photo card thingies aaron mentioned. maybe some of us that can't do any of the practical part (holding a food drive, or passing out flyers) can help to fund the printing of the cards? that way aaron isn't footing the bill for ALL of that??

the wheels in my head are turning (and singing :mad: lol :p *alllll through the towwwwwn* lol)

will post more later....

[Kelly]

Just a heads up, Laura, I emailed you back :)

[CamperGirl]

This sounds awesome! Count me in...I can try and help the best I can with what might be needed :o

[LauraA]

Yup, our new theme song...thanks, Aaron! LOL. I've been singing it since you posted it on FB!

I think it's fascinating that this got the ok and the oomph on The National Day of Prayer. Praise God!

Angie Rose, YES! You can do plenty from there, right there where you are! For sure. You can! You're on "the list!" LOL.

Cori, yes, great idea. I think we should have a paypal account to use for donations and such for the costs of fliers, materials, postage, etc. Aaron said the same thing, and I take this as confirmation that we should do it. I know times are really rough right now, for all of us, but every little, itty, bitty bit will help fund this. We can do this with Jesus leading the way, clearing the path and holding our hands!

Aaron, that Scripture is perfect! And I'm excited to see the Lord use you here in this project. It's not an accident that you are gifted in the photography area and connected with printing and all this.

Kelly, it's gonna happen!

Ok, who would like to do some research on Food Drives? We need to know the particulars of how to advise people to do them. How to get the people to donate, how to find the recipients, how to present this to your church or neighborhood, etc. Whatever you think you can find out for us, we'll need it put in a simple outline form. Angie? Kelly?

We don't have to use the fliers only at concerts. Do you have any friends who can connect with the SLTB theme? J fans? Christians? Neighboring churches? We can branch this out as far as you will take it. The point is to show the love of Jesus by reaching out to communities and encouraging others to do the same. Speak louder than before! :)

[LauraA]

This sounds awesome! Count me in...I can try and help the best I can with what might be needed :o

GREAT! If you want to look over the lists that we've started, and see if there is anything so far that you can lend a hand with, just post here.

Who is good with wording? I've emailed Kelly the BASIC flier, and I'd like to get it to a few of you so we can all chip in our ideas. Then we'll put the ideas together and come up with a final copy. I have no details on it, just 3 minutes worth of playing with it...so it needs LOTS of work.

[Kelly]

I will contact our local food bank tomorrow & see what ideas/advice they can give me & I will also look online for info :)



Ok, who would like to do some research on Food Drives? We need to know the particulars of how to advise people to do them. How to get the people to donate, how to find the recipients, how to present this to your church or neighborhood, etc. Whatever you think you can find out for us, we'll need it put in a simple outline form. Angie? Kelly?

[LauraA]

Great idea! Thank you. Did you get the flier base?

[Kelly]

I did, but it won't open on this computer (I'm on my sister's). I'll try it on mine in a bit.

Just wanted to post this EXCELLENT site I found w/ a detailed (& timed) outline for organizing a food drive. We would of course need to tailor it to our specific needs, but I love how it tells you what to do a month in advance, two weeks, one week, etc...

http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4305.htm

[LauraA]

Kelly, that's a great website, thank you! It will be perfect for those who want to take on a major food drive. And like you said, we can take info from it and make a nice, simple outline for those who will be doing a smaller drive. This is a great place to start and we can always put this website on the fliers. In fact, since we will be encouraging people to sign up here, I'll put a Food Drive Resource thread in and sticky it....(Edit, here is the link to the "We Are SLTB Food Drive Resource" thread. http://www.jeremycamp.com/boards/showthread.php?t=1343 We can put information, suggestions, advice, outlines, time-lines, websites, etc there to aid those who come here to get information on how to do the food drives. Please check out websites carefully so we don't give links that have questionable content on them.)

Aaron, could we put a simple outline for "How to Organize a Food Drive" on the back of the fliers without it bleeding through? Or would it be better to have a two page flier, stapled together? That would cost more, though, and take more time to staple, etc. What do you think? Or should we just give the link to the Resource thread here?

[CamperGirl]

I'd love to flyer! I have a ton of friends who might be willing to help out with that. :o

And it's a possiblility that I could run the idea of a food drive by my church...one of our Pastor's was telling the youth kids just a few weeks ago how he would like us all to come together and do a community project this summer. I will run it by him and see what he says.

I'm so exited to see how far this all goes! :)

[LauraA]

Very cool! I love how the Lord works!! The timing of your youth pastor's comment and this starting up isn't a coincidence. How awesome.

You can pm me your email and I'll send you the basic beginnings of the flier. You can play around with it and email it back to me.

For anyone helping word/design the flier, let's try to have that done in about a week, ok? It can be our first "goal." How about....have your version of the flier back to me by May 15th. Sound good?

[LauraA]

I'd love to flyer! I have a ton of friends who might be willing to help out with that. :o

And it's a possiblility that I could run the idea of a food drive by my church...one of our Pastor's was telling the youth kids just a few weeks ago how he would like us all to come together and do a community project this summer. I will run it by him and see what he says.

I'm so exited to see how far this all goes! :)

I forgot to mention, it would be wonderful to have your friends get involved with this!

[CamperGirl]

They'd definatly be into it :)

PMing you my e-mail right now...

[LauraA]

Sarah, you did a great job with the flier. Thank you.

It'll be fun to see everyone's ideas on it. :)

[Angie Rose]

sorry laura... i didnt check back t see if you'd replied to me.. oops. im so sorry!

is there anythign else i can do? p.m me if there is... that way ill be informed right away... i dont usually have time to look at every new post.. so if you send me a p.m.... i will notice that right away.. ;)

sorry again... :(

[LauraA]

Oh no problem at all, Angie. Not at all. It's been a busy week for everyone, with Mother's Day and all.

I'll pm you.

We will need to have a simple outline to tell people how to hold a food drive. Would anyone be able to do that? I'm thinking we could print it on side 2 of our flier, plus put it in the SLTB Resource Thread.

Does anyone else have any ideas for a flier?

[Angie Rose]

flier ideas? i thought someone was already working on a flier? :confused: im confoosdedededededed! :confused:

[Kelly]

I can work on that while I'm at work tomorrow :)


We will need to have a simple outline to tell people how to hold a food drive. Would anyone be able to do that? I'm thinking we could print it on side 2 of our flier, plus put it in the SLTB Resource Thread.

[LauraA]

Thank you, Kelly! That will be so helpful. :)

[Kelly]

Didn't get to it today cause my boss was there & we had a lot of paperwork to go through, but I work again tomorrow & she doesn't so I'll do it then :)

[LauraA]

Sounds great. Thanks! :)

[Kelly]

I'm SOOOOO sorry it's taking me so long to get to this! Things have just been crazy w/ the holidays, my sis graduating, still trying to find a job, & my computer being mean to me (it literally just shuts off randomly!). Working on fixing that this week & I promise I'll get to the food drive info sheet ASAP!!!! :)

SOOOOOO excited about this project!!! It's going to bless SO many people! I've been noticing lately that people EVERYWHERE are hosting food drives! One of our local concert venues puts on free concerts every Thursday night in the summer & they encourage people to bring in canned goods to donate. We're also doing several drives at church right now, including a canned foods drive. I already have one in mind. I'm trying to get a band booked down here & was thinking I could hold a food drive at their concert. We also have a big Christian festival here in town in September. Maybe I can do something for that as well! :) Exciting!!!

[LauraA]

Wow, Denise, thank you for the very informative post in the Food Drive Resources thread! This is going to be such a blessing, as Kelly said, to so many people! If anyone else has more information to post on Food Drives, don't be shy. lol. The more information we can provide, the easier it will be for people to follow through with the food drives in their areas.

We're going to open a thread for "Results" so those who have the drives can come here and post the results. And we're hoping to make some new friends here, too! Won't that be awesome?! I'm so excited about all this.

Kelly, I know you have so much going on right now with the computer, your sister's graduation and all the rest. Don't feel bad. I know you are doing everything you can. You're amazing!!

I need your opinion:

For the fliers we will be handing out at concerts, encouraging people to have food drives....what do you suggest:

1) We collect funds and have fliers printed, and mail them out to people as you all sign up to pass them out at your next concerts

2) We email you the flier, you print them off

3) Other ideas?

Please post here what you think would work best.

[Kelly]

Laura I LOVE the Results thread idea! I can't wait to hear people's stories of how they're spreading the word about this or even holding food drives themselves! How exciting! I hope we can get this up and running within the month so I can pass out some flyers at Celebrate Freedom!!!! :) Wonder if I should call & ask them if I need permission to do that. Don't want to get kicked out for "soliciting" :eek:

As far as the flyers go, I say we just have one emailed to people who want them & they can get copies on their own. We're certainly not talking about having a big extravagant flyer here. Just something simple, and cheap! We don't want people going out & spending $100 on copies, of course! :p

FedEx has a print online service where you can upload your document & they'll print it for you and deliver it to your home or pick it up at your local FedEx store! Sounds pretty sweet to me. I went through it w/ a fake document to check prices & it looks like it's 10 cents per copy. So you could get 100 copies for only $10! :) Here's the link:

http://www.fedex.com/us/office/index.html

Oooo...I just had another idea to cut costs even more....what if we did a half-page flyer? Then we'd get 200 copies for just $10! Just something to think about.

[LauraA]

Aaron mentioned that, too, Kelly. (1/2 page) I think it's a great idea, but we might need to use the front and the back in order to get all the info on there. Unless there is something we can cut out. Have I sent you the flier in the past week? The one with the rectangle picture on top? If not, let me know. I'm looking to have the wording streamlined, yet get all the info on there. Anyone who would like to take a look at it, let me know and I'll email you a copy.

That site looks great. Aaron also knows some printers who might be able to give us a hand.

I agree that we should have people print off their copies. We can email them out as concerts come up. And yes, we will have them ready for you shortly so you can pass them out at the concert. I'm praying that the Lord will prepare hearts, even now, for holding food drives in their area to get to know their communities and to show the love of Jesus.

He continues to confirm His power in so many ways. Hallelujah!!

[Psalms23]

It seems like at first everyone was pumped about it and now its starting to die down.

Hebrews 12: 1-3

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.


I want to encourage you to contact Laura to see what still needs to be done! I know Jeremy and Matt along with all the MODS are excited about this project and this is a GREAT way to be Speaking Louder Than Before and to reach the weak.

One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, "Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city." - Acts 18:9-10


God Bless,
Aaron

[Kelly]

Amen Aaron! I know these projects can seem overwhelming and scary but if we just take it one step at a time, we can do it! :)

[Kelly]

I'm working on the info for the flyer right now! :) Sorry it's taken me so long to get to it! But it'll be done tonight! :)

[LauraA]

That's great Kelly! I've worked and worked on it but I'm just not at all gifted with things like that. They are always boring when I write them up. I've seen your blogs and writings, and you are good at it! Just like many others here. What a awesome team we have here!

[Kelly]

Hehe well I'm trying...this website is VERY wordy & I'm already at 2 pages & not done typing! Definitely not gonna work if we're trying to make this a half-page flyer! :p But I'm working on getting it down. And it won't be TOO creative :p These informative things never are ;) I'm just trying to make it seem a little less intimidating...that's the most important thing at this point! We want to encourage people to do this...not scare them off hehe

[Kelly]

Done! Sent it to ya Laura. Let me know what you think :) I was getting excited just making that flyer! :) Yay! This is going to be SOOO amazing!

[LauraA]

It looks perfect, Kelly! Thank you. We can have this on the backside of the fliers! People will have everything they need, or they can come here and find the information. Did you post it in the resource thread? It will be nice for the people to have a few outlines to choose from.

Now to get the front done.

Does anyone have a concert coming up? We want to get some of these fliers passed out at every concert. We must Speak Louder Than Before! Yeah! :)

[LauraA]

Ok, we still need to finish up the front of the flier. We have a good start on it, but we need to have it refined. Is anyone up for that?


Also, we want to have some Scripture cards printed out. Aaron has suggested a few Scriptures that would be great to use. This would be a tool for those of you who actually hold a food drive. (To place into each bag that goes out.)

So, just to clarify, we have two ways (at least) that you can go here:

1) Print out the SLTB fliers to hand out at a concert, to encourage others to SLTB by holding a food drive.

2) Organize and hold a Food Drive (Or, clothing, shoes, toys, etc.)



Not to throw too much out at once, but for those of you who just can't work one of the above into your schedule, or if it's just not for you, what about this:
Find a way to reach into your community in another way. Examples:

1) Volunteer for hospice care
2) Read to the elderly in a nursing home (or just visit)
3) Bake some goodies for someone at church who seems lonely, and then follow up with some phone calls, cards or attention. (Suggesting same sex here so you don't give the wrong impression)
4) Make a meal for a family going through a hard time
5) Offer to babysit for a single parent so they can get out with a friend once a month or so
6) Clean someones house
7) Help a new mom. Offer to sit with the baby for a couple hours on a Sunday afternoon so she can take a nap
8) Take a friend to a Christian concert

You get the idea. Speak Louder Than Before in whatever way you feel would be a blessing to others. Let your light shine for Jesus.

As you go about your mission, remember to remain humble and have a servant's heart. We are doing this because we love Jesus and want to see Him lifted up among the nations. We want Him to receive all the glory!

[LauraA]

Here are the lyrics to the song that inpired this project. Please join us. WE ARE Speaking Louder Than Before!


"Speaking Louder Than Before"
by Jeremy Camp

Hear now this declaration
From out across the nations
We need to wake up and understand

Many hurting hearts are crying
But our voices seem to be dying
Can you see the battle raging on?

We are the light to reach this world
We are the salt preserving these souls
Let's show them the love that we've received now

We are, we are in desperation
We need to reach this generation
We are speaking louder than before

We are the hope that's been forgotten
We have the love that will be brought and
We are speaking louder than before

Take every chance that you can
Move together taking a stand
Never losing heart, we'll speak as one

We need to be the image of Christ
Show love and serve at all times
We can make a difference in these lands

We are the light to reach this world
We are the salt preserving these souls
Let's show them the love that we've received now

We are, we are in desperation
We need to reach this generation
We are speaking louder than before

We are the hope that's been forgotten
We have the love that will be brought and
We are speaking louder than before

Every thing's so surreal
But this urgency I feel
We should be reaching out to
All these desperate pleas

Oh, the meet is real, can't you feel
Let's call it revolution
My beating heart is breaking for them
That's why I'm speaking now
That's why I'm speaking now

We are, we are in desperation
We need to reach this generation
We are speaking louder than before

We are the hope that's been forgotten
We are the love that will be brought and
We are speaking louder than before

We are, we are, we are, we're speaking louder
We are, we are, we are, we're speaking louder
We are, we are, we are, louder than before
We are speaking louder than before, oh yeah

[Psalms23]

Amen Aaron! I know these projects can seem overwhelming and scary but if we just take it one step at a time, we can do it! :)

Thanks Kelly :)

[LauraA]

We will probably have the front of the flier done today or in the next couple of days. I'd like to start the list of who would like to have the front and back emailed to them to print off and hand out at concerts. Who is going to be at a concert in the next couple months?

For those of you who will be participating in a drive of some sort, we will have Scripture cards for you to print out and put in the bags of food. So, we will have two lists going. If you will be holding a food drive (or any drive), please post here so we can email you the Scripture cards.

[Kelly]

ME ME ME ME ME!!! :) 24 days to be exact!!! *SQUEAL!!!*

[LauraA]

The flier is finished. I'll be printing some off for this weekend at Lifest. If you will be going to a concert soon, please let me know what your email addy is and I'll mail you the flier to print off.

This is going to bless.

[Meadow]

Wow! i love this! it would feel great to be on the other side for a change because i know i've been there and pray i won't be there again soon due to changes w/ my job that I really feel God has lead completely. i'm praying that my faith will remain strong no matter all the disappoint i face He has me here for a reason.

[LauraA]

Great! You can be on the other side, Leigh. When will you be going to a concert next? Do you want to pass out fliers? This project needs all the CAMPers to particiapte, to Speak Louder Than Before.

[cori]

sarah & i have swc in TEN DAYS!!! *squeal* i can take fliers.....

[LauraA]

Great! Did I email you the fliers yet?

[LauraA]

SLTB Ministries posted more info:
www.speakinglouderministries.com