You know that scene in Jerry Maguire… Jerry is pleading with his client, “Help me, help you”.

Great scene. I recalled it this morning as I reflected on how Restore served the community this past month through Replenish.

There is something great about serving your community but there’s something greater to leading your community to serve itself.

The question about community service needs to shift to a focus of lasting impact and momentum.

You can give a child school supplies or you could:

• ask the question and identify the specific need in your school district
• recruit your church, teachers, & community organizers to go into the community to…
• enlist residents of a school district to meet the needs of under-resourced  students in their district

Along with meeting the need, you’re helping your community practice generosity. So maybe it goes beyond just helping our community, and instead (in a less desperate way than Jerry Maguire) helping the community help themselves.

Here’s one of the school drop-offs. The teachers we’re lined up at our trucks to collect the supplies. I’m really proud of Patrick O’Connell who led this and the whole team of volunteers who carried this out.