Friday, December 10, 2010

Families Provided For!!!

Supplying Needs has teamed up with Victory in Praise Church with their program called Adopt-a-Block (AAB). Here is a testimony of what is happening with (AAB) that is making a difference in the community.

Don't know if you know it but we are with a ministry at our church called Adopt-a-block (AAB) where we have adopted an apartment complex and go there every week to build relationships with the people and meet their needs. There is mom of a family that has been asking me 4 or 5 times if our church would provide a Christmas for them since they could not afford it. We agreed the first time so I laughed every time it was brought up thinking "Did she not remember that she had asked me already. or Doesn't she know I want to help her family out???" Any way her and husband when they got married combined their kids and had some of their own so they have a total of 11 kids. But she only asked if we could provide Christmas for the two youngest ones.

I have been praying about this for a while and wondering how we are going to do it. Since the people that do AAB with us are mostly 17 and under. With only 3 consistent adults. I thought maybe I could make a list and divide up what we need to give them a Christmas. It was mainly hanging over my head with no real good answer.

Then one day we get a call from a guy who goes to the church and works at a fast food place. He said every year they adopt a family and give them Christmas by providing 2,500 dollars worth of food and presents. And this year they had no clue who to give to so we came to his mind that we would know a family in need. So he told his boss and his boss said get on it. He gave me the number of the lady in charge of adopting a Christmas family. For 2 weeks I was in shock thinking they will probably say thanks but no thanks we have some one else in mind. But they are actually doing it. And they want to be anonymous. Can you believe it. I am so excited. Now the whole family gets a Christmas. Isn't that just wonderful.

And I got another email from a girl that goes to my church that says she is in a club that wants to adopt a family and I have one that is living in a hotel and is going through a rough time.

And there was another family at AAB that needed a couch and love seat. They had nothing in their living room. I sent out a note on FB and with in 10 minutes someone told me about a couple that had a couch and love seat to give a way. They not only gave me those two items but lamps and a chair and a coffee table. We were able to go and pick it up with SN's bus. How awesome is that?

I am blown away by God and His provision. In Matthew it says "You need to seek God's Kingdom First and His Righteousness and then everything you need will be given to you." I am putting in my own words. So in other words I need to do what God is asking me to do and surrender my life so He can help me be more like Christ and He will help me with ALL my needs. What an awesome God I serve.

Thank you Jesus!!!

We are excited to be teaming up and participating in Adopt-A-Block which changes lives. SN knows of so many families in need and it is awesome we can team up with other people to help the poor, need, and hungry be provided for especially this holiday season.

Sincerely,
SN

Monday, October 25, 2010

September & October Update

Supplying Needs’ Happenings
September and October 2010

Since Supplying Needs was created in May of 2009, this has been our busiest two months. Our operations have been picking up steam like a train, slow at first, but the momentum is gaining. This update covers September and October 2010.

One of the biggest events is that we’ve made contact with some new wholesalers in Stockton who have generously given to our organization. We appreciate all our donors whether private or corporate, retail or wholesale. With the volume of product donated by wholesalers we are able to meet more needs.

From wholesalers we have been given the following:

3060 frozen 12” pizzas and approximately 22000 personal sized pizzas
These pizzas were not able to be used for their intended purpose, but because of the generosity of the donor, these pizzas were able to make huge impact in the Stockton area.

1234 baking mixes, such as cake, scone and cookie mix

2600 boxes of popcorn
We were extremely pleased with this donation, especially since it is the season to celebrate the harvest and give away candy. I’m sure that there will be lots of children receiving some sort of popcorn treat in their goodie bags. We were able to distribute this popcorn to 8 different groups.

Besides the wholesalers we have recently started picking up from a retail grocery store on a daily basis, 6 days a week. This has been something we’ve been trying to do since our beginning and we are very excited to see how well it is working out. We started off picking up bread from this store and through the efforts of the store manager; the doors were opened to receive ALL the non-sellable products from the store. In just a little over two months we have received 3467 pounds of produce, 2367 loaves of bread plus meat, cheese, deli and frozen goods. This food goes out daily to a different group each day of the week for their food outreaches. It is awesome to know that this food is helping groups reach out to more people in their surrounding area.

Some other donations we received were 7214 containers of yogurt, 254 jugs of juice and two truck loads (12 pallets) of assorted drinks, sauces, dry goods, canned goods, bottled water, pet food and household items.

On a monthly basis Supplying Needs distribute donations free of charge to approximately 1140 people directly and through groups we give to. We are excited to see the difference that is being made and the support these groups are receiving.


How You Can Help:
If you would like to help Supplying Needs efforts to reaching the poor, hungry, homeless, and elderly you can:

1) Help with Finances. As an organization we operate on a minimal budget. ALL PROCEEDS are used to further our efforts in reaching people. We use the money that comes in with our day to day operating expenses such as vehicle licensing, insurance, fuel, etc. All our staff are 100 percent unpaid volunteers and we do all we can to maintain low overhead costs. Any financial support is appreciated and can be mailed to:

Supplying Needs
P.O. Box 473
Stockton, CA
95201

2) You can pray for Supplying Needs. We value your prayers. If you would like to be a part of our prayer team and receive monthly prayer updates, please send an email to supplyingneedsprayer@gmail.com.

Thank you for all your support, encouragement and prayers. We really appreciate you!

God Bless,
Joel Butler
President

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

September

It has been exciting in the month of September. So much food came in as well as some donations of clothes and furniture. We received the same amount of donation dollar value in just the month of September alone as we did from February to August.

We have in the year 2010 received over 125,000 dollars worth of food, clothes, and furniture (mostly food). These items have all been distributed free of charge to the people of Stockton. We now have 20 groups that we have given to and we are continuing to give to on a weekly basis. These groups are doing various things to reach out to the needy in the city of Stockton. Some groups give groceries once a week, every other week or once a month. While other organizations are helping the homeless through hot meals, shelter, clothing, or other needs. And still others are housing, feeding and counseling men and women who are struggling with drug additions.

A grocery store is now giving to us 6 days a week. With this donation we are able to help 6 different groups on a daily basis by giving to each group one day a week.

We look forward to the future. And Supplying Needs is still on the look out for a warehouse. A place where we can glean the food and not have to clear the truck out as fast as possible to make room for the next load. But for now we are excited about all the donations coming in.

Sincerely,
Supplying Needs

Monday, August 16, 2010

Warehouse, Food, and Other Groups

We are constantly focused on getting more food for the groups that we have connected with over the past year. There is such a need here in the City of Stockton it is heart breaking to think and see for ourselves the people that go hungry here every day.

It is amazing to think that Stockton is 4th in the nation for hungry people. We are teamed up with a church that has adopted an apartment complex. Two of our people go every week with Victory in Praise church to reach out to the people at this apartment. The needs are great but the greatest one that has been visible is love. Just a consistent face for these people mean a lot. Over the last few months they have started opening up to us more and more. It is amazing what kind words, consistency, love, and a few needs met can really do.

This week we just added another group that we have a heart to help. It is a husband and wife that give out sack lunches once a week. They said they were led by God to start this and are using money from their own pocket to help the homeless. We were able to give them hot dogs, buns, and yogurt to help with their efforts.

Wow, we are blown away that we are able to help and participate with 15 other groups here in the Stockton area. These groups are doing all they can to help reach their local neighborhoods. Every day Supplying Needs is contacting food wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and caterers to see if they would be willing to help us with our efforts in reaching out. It is funny because we are not asking for their best food but food they can no longer sell. Items that the packaging is damaged, or it is close to the expiration date, or the quality is not fit to sell to consumers. Food that is still very good but can not be sold.

We are also constantly on the look out for a warehouse. A place where we can gather and distribute food. Not only food but once we get a warehouse or warehouse space we can start asking companies for furniture, building supplies, office supplies and other things that can be used to meet a need. We do take furniture and clothes but not in big quantities just in case we can't give it out in time to pick up another donated load because we have no where to store it.

We are very blessed to be here and are excited what God is doing! We look forward to the future and all the plans that God has for Supplying Needs.

God Bless,
Supplying Needs

Friday, May 7, 2010

Wholesalers and more.

Supplying Needs has been busy in the past few weeks. We have received yes's from wholesalers who are willing to give on a regular basis. We are excited what this will do for our community since Stockton is 4th in the nation for hungry people.

Just yesterday we received 3,000 packages of ham hocks. We were able to pass them out to people we knew who are in need of food as well as 4 churches who give to the poor on a weekly or monthly basis. While we were loading up one church with ham hocks they mentioned that a soda company gives to them. But when the church picks up from the company they want to give the church more than they can handle. The pastor asked if we would start picking up for them that way they can get what they want for the church and we can have the rest to distribute to individuals and other groups.

A week ago we picked up from another wholesaler that wants to give to us once a month. This wholesaler is connected with a grocery chain. The the grocery store gives their damaged goods to this wholesaler and the wholesaler sells it to dollar stores and other places at a low cost. They are willing to give us about 6 pallets a month of their assorted food, drinks, pet food, and non-edible items. Supplying Needs was very excited when we got a call saying they had their first load for us to come pick up. We received everything you can think of: bottled water, rice, canned goods, soup, granola bars, candy bars, peanut butter, toilet paper, dish soap, pet food, cleaning supplies, and much much more.

We are excited what God is doing through Supplying Needs and we look forward to what He has in store for us next.

Sincerely,
Supplying Needs

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Belize

Supplying Needs had the privileged of traveling to Belize. A plane ticket was donated to one of our directors in hopes to connect with LOL ministries an organization that is building an orphanage in Belize. The goal of the trip was to see what LOL ministries is doing and see if Supplying Needs would want to help contribute to the efforts LOL ministries is doing with the local Belizeans. The trip was a success and we here at Supplying Needs find it an honor to have been intrudced to such a ministry. We look forward to future interactions with LOL ministries.
We recommend you check them out at www.lolministry.com.

God Bless,
Supplying Needs
v

Monday, February 15, 2010

Distributing Food

Since receiving the huge donation of food and supplies in mid-January from the grocery store that had the fire Supplying Needs has been able to give out half the food in a matter of 3 short weeks. The food has gone to 7 churches who reach out to their community and some have come back multiple times to pick up the donated items. Supplying Needs has also been able to directly give food to 9 families.

Here are some testimonies:

One church has been giving food out in a time of need to their congregation. The pastor was praying and planning to open up the food pantry to the public this March of 2010. He had been praying for God to open doors for them to start receiving food when he got our call. When we arrived the Pastor had said this was an answer to pray.

Another church had given almost all their food out in November and December and were strategizing how they could get more food for those in need when we called. They came by to the office building that was donated to us for one month and took as much as they could fit in their vehicles.

Another pastor had just moved to Stockton from San Fransisco looking for cheaper rent. He saw there was such a need here that he started helping his surrounding area. We were connected to this pastor through a man that does Celebrate Recovery at one of the churches we give to. The first week we gave food to him he had two or three families by the next week he had a list of ten families that were in need of food and clothing.

One church we give to helps 60 people per week and another church over 300 people.

God continues to blow us away with His timing and His strategic planning to connect us with churches who have a heart to help the poor, hungry and lost.

On a final note we just learned that Stockton is number 4 in the nation of hungry people.
There is such a need here in the City of Stockton.

Kind Regards,
Supplying Needs

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

A Fire Turned into a Blessing.

In August the mini bus arrived safely in Stockton California all the way from Pennsylvania. Since then we have been approaching every grocery store in a 30 mile radius. One grocery store said they would give their non-sellable products to us but when we called each week or went in to see them they said they did not have anything and that instead they would call us. They kept telling us that if they had anything they would contact us not the other way around.

That was months ago. But in mid January we got a call from the same grocery store saying there was a fire and for us to come down and recieve the food. When our crew got to the store the owner showed us around by flash light because they no longer had electricity. He then proceeded to tell us that all the food was ours and we needed to get the food out as soon as possible.

We worked 6 hours that day filling our refrigerated box truck from top to bottom with food. The food wasn't damaged but they could no longer sell it. So we filled up grocery carts row by row and then dumped it in the truck. Clearing each aisle as fast as possible. The next day we unloaded the truck and then went back again to start the whole process over again. It took us 3 days to unload the whole store.

During the 6 days loading and unloading we filled a 10x20 storage unit full of food and an owner of a strip mall of offices gave us office space one month FOR FREE. Now both the storeage unit and office is full of food.

As of now we have one month to empty the office. Churches are coming and loading up their vehicles with food for thier outreaches. One church we are giving to gives to 70 families and another church gives to approaximately 350 people.

God has blessed us in abundance and we are so grateful He chose us for a time such as things.

To God be the Gorly,
Supplying Needs

One out of the two of our Storage Units

Card board bins full

Our Truck full from top to bottom

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Supplying Needs 2009 - A Year in Review

"And the same God that takes care of me will supply all your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:19

It is with much joy that we are able to write this report on Supplying Needs. The vision of Supplying Needs began approximately 5 years ago, in the winter of 2004. At that time we (Joel and Dess Butler) were living in Stockton, CA while volunteering with the relief organization Friend Ships (www.friendships.org). Through a series of God given dreams and visions, the directive was given to start an international outreach ministry, the only question was WHEN?? We were fully involved with Friend Ships and knew we had years of service left with that ministry. So we wondered when, where and how God was going to start this ministry.

As the years went by, the vision and desire for this new ministry grew stronger. In the summer of 2008, we left Friend Ships without any clear direction of what God was going to do through us. We still hadn't been given the go ahead to start our own organization yet. We took a few months off to visit our families and to try to gain insight into what God wanted us to do next. After pastoring for 3 months at Dess' father's churches we felt that God had given us the OK to start Supplying Needs and to move back to Stockton, CA.

It was March of 2009 that the ground work and paperwork began for Supplying Needs. Who knew that there was so much involved in starting up a non-profit organization? But with the help of the Bishop at our local church and a website designed for helping start-up non-profit organizations, Supplying Needs was incorporated in the State of California by May 28th, 2009. The next series of paperwor was the most involved and that was for obtaining federal tax-exempt status. Once this paperwork was submitted, we were off to Pennsylvania!

Christian Missionary Technical Services (CMTS) out of Bernville, PA had offered to donate a mini-bus to Supplying Needs. We traveled to Pennsylvania and received one of our first major donations. Over the course of about 4 weeks, much work was put into the mini-bus. We had tons of help from our firends Josh and Rebekah Larson (ex-Friend Ships crew), as well as support from the CMTS workers. The mini-bus was a thing of beauty when it was driven away from CMTS with special thanks to Bryan Myers who put a frest coat of white paint with black trim on it.

By the time the mini-bus was driven back to California, the paperwork for Federal Tax-Exemption had been approved. It was on July 2nd, 2009 that Supplying Needs became a Federal Tax Exempt Corporation (aka 501 (c) 3). We had heard and read that this paperwork could take from months to over a year to be completely processed and compliant. So there was much rejoicing when we found out that we had been approved in less than 2 months. The final piece of paperwork was the California State exempt status and we received that on September 30th, 2009.

Immediately after we received our 501 (c) 3 we started approaching local grocery stores and markets in regards to donating their non-sellable produce to our organization for use in local outreaches. Time and time again we received the answer "NO". It was tough knowing that so many stores have food going to waste but that they were unwilling to donate the product. In the course of 6 months, we have approached 68 stores with only a handful who have agreed to donate and only one market which has donated faithfully. We have received approximately 190 pounds of assorted produce in donations.

Another donation we have been receiving is used clothing. Not long after our return to Stockton, we were using a laundromat and met a friendly worker, John. When John heard about our upcoming ministry and all that we were preparing to do, he got very excited and offered to request donations of clothing from the patrons of the Laundromat. Since then we have received over 19 large bags of clothes from John. These clothes are going to local churches for use in outreaches to the community.

Our final and biggest blessing to our ministry came just in time for Christmas. Joel was able to go to Louisiana and return with a donated 26 foot long refrigerated box truck. This is such a huge blessing because it opens up the doors for us to make donation requests from wholesalers, farmers, distribution centers and packing houses. We are praying that 2010 will open up some new and wonderful avenues of ministry.

We are very thankful to everyone who has been supporting us in 2009 through prayers, love and donations.

Our hope and prayer for 2010 is:
1) A warehouse for our ministry.
2) Volunteers who would catch the vision and work alongside of us.
3) Many, many company donors of food, clothing, toy, furniture, etc.
4) Many, many, many more churches who would step out in faith and reach out to their community with what God provides for Supplying Needs.

Please keep these 4 things in you prayers as well.

In Christ's Love,

Joel and Dess Butler
Directors of Supplying Needs


Our Truck


Our Bus

2009 Quick Review:

May 28, 2009 Supplying Needs became an official Non-Profit Corporation

July 2, 2009 Supplying Needs became a Federal 501 (c) 3 Tax Exempt Organization

September 30, 2009 Supplying Needs became Tax Exempt in the State of California

This year Supplying Needs has received the following donations:
Laptop
Mini School Bus
2 Printer/Copiers/Fax machines
13 Cases of Bread
19 Large bags of Clothes
190 pounds of produce
3 - 20 pound Turkeys with the total of 60 pounds
26' Refrigerated box truck
Love seat and Sofa

We have approached over 68 grocery stores and 34 warehouses.

Supplying Needs has given out:
13 Cases of Bread
148 pounds of food
10 bags of clothes

The recipients have been:
Victory in Praise Church
Calvary First Assembly of God
People from UCP (United Cerebral Palsy)
People in the community in need