Dear Supporters and Donors,
Cup of Grace Ministries has served the Spirit Lake and surrounding communities for six years now! We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for helping us with your support and let you know what we’ve been up to this year, and highlight how much we have grown in the past six years. Without you, we would not be able to provide services and support to those in need in our community.
Amy Privitt began her adventure with Cup on Grace in January of 2017, when she felt led to feed people as well as to find a means to bring community members together. She invited some friends to cook food in crockpots and rented the Spirit Lake Community Center. That first night, 15 volunteers came to help and 23 meals were served to the community. The Tuesday night meal quickly gained popularity amongst those needing food and those looking for ways to connect. In 2022 we served 4,548 meals at our Free Tuesday Night Community Meal. That makes a total of 26,114 meals served since the inception of Cup of Grace!
Shortly thereafter, Amy was asked to help build a clothing closet at the local elementary school. A clothing closet was established to provide seasonal appropriate clothing, including winter coats, snow pants, jackets, shoes, socks and underwear. Additional closets were requested, and eventually we were able to provide every school in the Lakeland School District with a clothing closet including the Lakeland Head Start, for a total of 12 schools. We also provide toiletry items and school supplies in each school closet. A volunteer is assigned to each school to maintain the closet and re-stock when items are needed. We were excited to host a prom dress give-a-way event last year, and hope to continue to in the future. Prom dresses are donated and kept at the Timberlake Junior High School for any student who needs a dress in the Lakeland School District.
Over the years we also established other programs. The Children’s Lunch program provides lunches to children in the park during the summer months, and to the Spirit Lake Library children’s reading program year-round. We added additional activities to the lunch program such as a visit from the Tooth Fairy, as well as crafting and book distribution events. Buddy Bags are provided to first responders to deliver to children they encounter in crisis situations. Due to increased requests from families for additional assistance, we have established a food pantry, diaper bank and provide gas or grocery cards or other assistance to families in crisis situations. We strive to partner with other organizations and assist families with navigating the resources available to them.
The Community Events and Outreach programs are also dear to our heart, as they help facilitate bringing the community together. This year, we participated in the Running Shoes4Kids Event, the Spirit Lake Elementary Carnival, and Adopt a Family for Christmas.
To support the programs and requests for assistance we received grants and individual donations from the community. We were blessed this year with grants from the Avista Foundation, The Coeur Group, First Interstate Bank, Idaho Community Foundation’s Project Neighborly, and Kootenai Electric. In addition, we had goods and services donated by several local businesses and organizations including, Dirt Poor Carpentry, Kuma Stoves, Stix and Stones, Morservices, North Woods Electric, Brickel Creek Coffee, Spirit Lake Baptist Church, Soul Patrol and EPCC Machine Werks.
The first five years we worked out of volunteer’s homes, garages and several storage units and we made it work. But as we had grown, it was becoming more and more difficult. The dream was to find a location to have a home of our own. We wanted a location to hold our inventory, provide office space, and serve as a place to hold our community meals, as well as provide a venue for community-based classes or other events. We were extremely blessed by a very large donation, which enabled us to purchase a building in Spirit Lake! To help offset the cost of our mortgage payment, we rent parking lot and office space to Mountain Country Family Healthcare, Music in the Pines, and Off the Hook Fish and Chips. These businesses have been a blessing to us and also provide needed resources to our community.
We are excited to say most of the necessary repairs are done and we are hosting our weekly free meal at our building. We are especially grateful to the generous donors, volunteers and to the professional contractors who helped to work on the needed repairs to make this dream come true!
When Amy and her family and friends established Cup of Grace there were 15 volunteers. This year, over 100 volunteers worked a total of 6,722 hours to make our slice of the world a better place. We could not accomplish all that we have without the help from each and every one of our volunteers.
Although Covid brought several challenges to our routine and programs, we were still able to provide services needed to our community. God is good!
Cup of Grace was founded on James, Chapter 2, which encourages us to not only wish for people to have food, shelter and clothing, but to provide it to them. With your help, we were able to bless people in our community with food, clothing and social services so they didn’t have to solely rely on government assistance. As we walk with God, we will go where He leads us. If it is in His plan, we will continue serving our neighbors, offering more services and supporting our community. Over the last five years, we have been blessed with people and businesses that have not only provided financial assistance, but also encouragement and friendship. We cannot thank you enough.
Attached is a donation report that can serve as a receipt for your records. Cup of Grace, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity, and all donations are tax deductible. We hope to partner with you again in 2023. Until then,
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
Sincerely,
Amy Privitt, Executive Director
Cup of Grace Ministries
(817) 228-5018
Email: amy@cupofgrace.life
Facebook/cupofgrace.life
Website: cupofgrace.life