The Pinholster Small Group was recently blessed by a single mother, Noshelle, and her four special-needs children. With the majority of Noshelle’s time dedicated to attending to the children’s needs and typical parenting responsibilities, she is unable to pursue full time employment and therefore has considerable financial needs.

Our small group decided to provide both a monetary and a grocery gift to assist meeting some of need during the holidays. With the unique couponing talents of one of the members of our small group, $250 resulted in about $400 worth of groceries.  This was coupled with a $250 cash gift.  On December 20^th, we met with Noshelle and three of the children Ziporia (age 8), Rishaud (age 13), and Tahaji (age 6) for a time of fellowship.  What we experienced was a mother’s unwavering devotion to her children and a strong faith in God. The children were beautiful, very well mannered and welcomed us into their home.  After 40 minutes of visiting in the living room and sharing our lives, we began bringing in groceries.  Noshelle was overwhelmed to the point of tears as her kitchen was quickly filled with every thing from turkey to toothpaste. She confessed that this was an answer to her prayer as she surveyed the stacks of bags all around the kitchen. It was a joyous occasion for us all.  Noshelle requested that we keep her and the family in our prayers, so we took that opportunity to pray together in the kitchen.  Noshelle thanked God and requested that we thank all those involved with this ministry at Radius.  That afternoon, we left a very excited family, but as the sun set we knew that we had been equally blessed by a mother’s devotion to her children.

It's so cool how God redeems our time. Nathan and I spent a good bit of time in a terrifically difficult financial situation; fortunately, we had family that helped us stay afloat (or we would've been a 2008 statistic). However, this year, God appears to be bringing us onto the other side of things. And out of this is born an idea for a way to serve and give back right here in Columbia. What a way to make something beautiful out of something beautiful out of something that literally seemed like a pile of ashes for our family.

One thing we have noticed, over and over again, is that everyone's life seems to have been altered a little or a lot in the economic downturn. We know personally business owners who are not paying themselves, and more folks than we can count that have been laid off. It seems that, very few are immune to the effects of this economy.

So- in comes "The Food Boutique." What is it? It is an "updated" food pantry for 2010- a year in which many who have never had to ask for help are now looking at empty wallets before the month's end. These are the "Riches to Rags" folks. Maybe they haven't come from affluence, however, keep in mind that even "middle class" in the United States would be considered affluence in most parts of the world. The name "Food Boutique" is a little tongue-in-cheek, but literally it refers to the small size and personalized nature of the ministry.

How will it work? A core group of folks is getting together to figure out the logistics, but, here is what we know so far:

• It will be personalized and specialized.  This is not a "one size fits all" entity, dishing out the same thing to everyone. The desire is to provide loose guidelines, depending on family size, and nutritional needs. For example, say a family member is diabetic. Likely we will not send them home with a 5 lb bag of sugar. Even more specifically, imagine if you had been losing weight and feeling better (important when one is under stress!)- and all of the sudden unable to purchase much fresh produce or dietetic foods. This is where the Food Boutique would seek to fill a need, focusing on providing foods that are in-line with what you are used to consuming. This will not only serve the client well but also reduce food wastage.
  
• It will start out as a "referral-based" ministry. This means that all one needs to do is call or email and an appointment will be set to meet the need at hand. 
• It will utilize the "Extreme Couponing" method as a starting point for not only filling a one-time need, but enabling the family to set out on a course for providing for themselves. The structure will look like this: 1st visit- Be blessed. 2nd visit- Learn Exteme Couponing method. 3rd visit- small amount of "sweat equity" provided in return for the food. In this way, our hope is the The Food Boutique will have a self-replinishing component as well. Additionally, food donations will come primarily by encouraging those who are already Extreme Couponing to share any excess with others (without them having to find someone to give 8 tubes of toothpaste to!).
•  Currently has acquired a temporary location on West Beltline Blvd in Columbia. The initial idea for expansion is not based on having one location growing larger, rather, creating a duplicatable process which can be replicated in other areas of town, making it convenient for the families in need. 

For more information, currently simply email meredith@goodteamworks.com or call 803-799-6155. More information and ways to contact will soon be coming.

The Mom's small group that meets on Monday mornings decided to donate our $500 to the Josephine House in Peru.  The Josephine House is an orphanage in Peru that was founded recently by Keith and Ruth Powlison.  They are Holly Anderson's parents.  They are taking in children that have been put to work begging on the streets for their mom and or parents, children with disabilities, and children that will just be there temporarily while their parents can't meet their needs.  The stories are quite touching and heartbreaking and you can read them on their website at www.josephinehouse.org. We thought it was quite fitting that a group of mom's donate money to help children without a mom.  Keith and Ruth have taken on quite a task with much love for these children.  We did not want to just send money, we wanted to be personal in our giving, so a few of us wrote letters of encouragement to the Powlisons for Holly to send to them in Peru.