DEPLOY AS SERVANTS
We can “Be the presence of Christ by sharing the love of God one person at a time” if we draw strength from each other, are equipped spiritually and engage in activities that use our gifts to spread the word of God and share the joy of his love for all.
The Closet is a nonprofit thrift shop located at 845 Station Street, just two blocks from our church. It was founded in 1974 by a group of local churchwomen concerned that their church clothes closets couldn’t meet the needs of a growing community and in particular the influx of Vietnamese refugees.
First Baptist, a founding member, has been active at the thrift shop since its inception. Members have been paid staff and have served as Board president. And of course members volunteer. Currently, in addition to serving on assigned monthly volunteer dates, members staff the voucher desk; check board games for completeness; and sort, price and display toys. For many years, one of our members drove The Closet truck to Shenandoah to distribute excess goods to small communities.
The Closet serves the Herndon-Reston-Sterling community through its everyday low prices for clothing and household goods (more than $1 million in annual sales); its voucher program for clients referred by social service agencies (more than 10 percent of sales given away annually); its grants program to local nonprofits (about $100,000 a year); and its scholarship program at six local high schools (about $60,000 a year).
The store is open Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with extended hours (5-8 p.m.) on Mondays and Thursdays. Donations are accepted from 8 a.m.-noon every day except Thursdays and Sundays.
The Embry Rucker Community Shelter (ERCS) is a 70-bed residential shelter that provides healthy, safe, emergency housing for families and single men and women. We are dedicated to helping our clients overcome the circumstances that led to their homelessness, and facilitate their transition to stable housing
LINK, Inc. is an "all volunteer" emergency support organization in Northern Virginia. This organization currently consists of a group of dedicated churches, organizations, and individuals that provide food and financial assistance to qualified people in need. Volunteers do all the work, and most goods are received from donations.
In 2006 LINK touched almost 7,000 people using a budget of around $50,000.00. All monies and material donations went directly to people in our community. LINK spent about 7% of its budget on operating expenses, which included Food Pantry maintenance, water and sewer, telephone, electricity, office supplies and insurance.
In addition to food, LINK provided financial assistance in the form of grocery gift certificates for food to those-in-need ($20,000 in 2006).
LINK also provided financial assistance in cash for social services-approved medical prescriptions, utility bills and rent.
The Lamb Center is a daytime drop-in center for the poor and homeless in central Fairfax County, Virginia.
