Throwback: The Year of the Candy

Recently I opened a file from 2007 called "Candy Sale Price List," and it brought back a wave of memories. Sometime during that year, another local ministry was contacted about a candy donation in Scottsdale. It either did not suit them to get the candy, or else they knew the quantity was so large that they called in some back-up.  I don't recall specifically. A candy convention had taken place at a Scottsdale resort, where several not-yet-on-the-market items were previewed, along with all manner of candy in general. They had leftovers and wanted to donate them to charity.

 

We drove our large school bus and 15-passenger van over to that ritzy resort in Scottsdale and filled both vehicles FULL (to the roof) of sweet items -- hard candies, chocolates, gum, toy-candy combinations, and mints, both generic brands and gourmet ones. 

 

 

This brand of chocolates was part of the candy stash. Highly recommended for chocolate lovers!

 

We had so much candy that we donated the van contents to another youth ministry in the community. When we arrived at Aim Right and needed to unload the bus, suddenly little neighborhood helpers materialized out of nowhere.  They helped us lug boxes and boxes up the stairs into our storage room (the room off the balcony that faces the large parking lot). If I recall correctly, the bounty did not all fit in there, though. It overflowed to other spaces. 

 

We sold a lot of Liberty Orchards products -- boxes upon boxes.

We let the helpers choose candy to take home with them. I remember that they filled boxes as full as they could and then struggled to carry them home.  CANDY!  CANDY FOR DAYS!

 

We had a LOT of these -- very similar to the Jelly Belly brand.

 

Somewhere along the line, after storing all of this candy and beginning to sort through it, we realized we couldn't feasibly use it all for programs before it began to harden, melt, or not be very palatable (or send kids into a serious sugar overdose). Plus, some varieties just weren't that kid friendly. Enter the idea of "Candy Sales." We sold big bags of candy for a great bargain after school on the sidewalk. We set up a table at a church's indoor yard sale and sold $420 worth of candy there. I think eventually we even had a few folks calling and asking, "Do you have any more of so and so?" as word about our cheap candy prices spread.

 

The candy stash is long gone now, but "The Year of the Candy" is a reminder of God's faithfulness in the form of an unexpected blessing. It was one of those "good things" from the Father that we didn't even know to ask for, yet received (Matthew 7:11). He is a good, good Father.

 

 

More VBS!

I recently realized there were several VBS photos we never posted, so consider this a "better late than never" post.

 

Each evening at VBS opened with a large group assembly and singing. By the end of the week, the song leaders had lots of helpers, as evidenced by all the children standing at the front.

 



 

Salt, glue, and watercolor paints make an interesting craft. We had four theme nights during VBS: Crazy Socks, Crazy Hair, Sports Team, and Superhero.  In some pictures, you will see children and adults sporting their favorite jersey or sports team logo.

 

Eileen shared about Jesus' death and resurrection on Thursday evening.

King Ro shows his jump roping skills.

 

Homemade cookies, crackers, and juice? Yes, please!

 

More salt artwork:

 

Friday evening was Crazy Hair night. Carter was pretty proud of his mohawk. I believe his explanation was, "My dad did it."

 

The craziest crazy hair? Probably!

 

Making a catapult:

 

Our Bible story room was intentionally in disarray for the evenings the children "met" King Josiah and Nehemiah.

King Josiah found his crown among the rubble:

 Praying with King Josiah:

 

At the Royal Theatre each evening, children watched a short video of a continuing story and learned a memory verse.

 

I posted Dr. Edwin Leap's reflections about VBS in 2009, and it is still worth reading, along with this article as well, by the same author. Below is an excerpt from the latter article. Note: Dr. Leap regularly writes a newspaper column so is used to people of many religions--or none at all--reading it.

 

I’ve seen the children of wrecked world-views.  I’ve seen the children with empty eyes.  I’ve seen the children of disease, abuse, drugs, and alcohol.  And I know that, without any doubt, the evil things of the world evangelize them with a passionate fervor.

 

Hopelessness, nihilism, cruelty, promiscuity, drugs, alcohol, violence, abuse, every negative thing in the world hides itself in flashy images on television, or in classrooms, in the lyrics of music, or in the ideals of a political party.  The children of the world are constantly, shamelessly evangelized to grow up too fast, to ignore their families as irrelevant, to seek the solace of name-brands, money, and fame.  They are preached the gospel of success along with the gospel of self-loathing.  You don’t have to agree with my faith to agree that we need to offer the children something more than all of that.

Back to School

School begins early in Phoenix. I can recall a few years when the first day of school was in July. This year, most of the nearby elementary schools are beginning tomorrow. A local real estate company that specializes in historic properties, The District PHX, organized a Back-to-School event for Garfield Elementary, which is located across from our downtown campus. Aim Right was invited to participate and donated several back packs and school supplies and also provided volunteers for the event.

 

The back packs were the only "dry" part of this event, since it was located outdoors.  There was a dunk tank which Delia (in the sunglasses) helped to man.

 

 

Aleisha even had a moment of sitting in the hot seat.  One dunk was apparently her limit, because by the time I got my phone out to take a picture, this was happening!

 

Ro kept an eye on the water slide.

 

Back by the canopies were two food trucks serving various flavors of shaved ice. Yum! Kids had a blast on the slip-n-slide, too.

 

 

Below, I think Aleisha was still trying to recover from her dunk tank experience, and Mark was kind enough to keep her company. Mark is a teen and is one of our regulars at Aim Right.

 



 

Despite the heat, it was a fun two hours as we connected with a lot of families and children we know through Kids Club.