2014 Harvest of Talents Summary

October 21, 2014 |  | Make A Comment | Events, Information

$27,089.83

With God’s help, that’s the amount of money we were able to raise to feed hungry people this year. Remember, ALL of that money will be used for feeding programs — not administrative costs or anything else. Keep reading to find out how it went down.

There are several ways that the Harvest committee raises money all year long to contribute to the grand total. We have special events before the big day, we take up special offerings, and we have the big day itself. Typically, the Harvest of Talents festival itself raises about 75% of the money in one day.

The special events we had this year are as follows. Please consider participating in these or other activities this next year. Each activity is listed with the results of the event.

The total money raised in special funds prior to our big event this year was $6629, which is a little over 24% raised before the Harvest festival itself.

After all of that was done, we had to begin to prepare for the big day. All year long, our church members create quality handcrafted goods and save them up. Starting the Monday before Harvest (always the third Saturday in October), the church is opened for donations from noon-6pm. At that time, all manner of crafts and food arrive for pricing. Some items are set aside for the silent and live auctions.

The amount of work that goes into harvest preparation is incredible. We could not begin to thank everyone for their efforts, but we would be terribly remiss if we didn’t thank the people of Unity Christian Church. More of donations have been coming from outside the church in recent years, but the vast majority of the work and goods that are sold still come from our dedicated church members. We never want to take that for granted. Thank you, Unity Christian Church, for opening your doors for our ministry, for being gracious hosts every year, and for working so diligently to feed hungry people.

There are two categories of donations that make our big event possible. First there are businesses that donate goods which are used to facilitate the event (such as advertising, paper products, ice, and food). Secondly, there are local craft and artisan businesses who donate their handcrafted items for sale.

Businesses who have donated advertising, goods, or money to facilitate our event material needs for 2014:

Local businesses/crafters/artisans who donated their goods to be sold (this list does not include the many individual donors, only business that supplied a business card). A special thanks goes to Marion Open Air Market for supplying many of the donors to this year’s event.

In addition to all of the handcrafted items that were donated, priced, and displayed, we also raise money at the event by serving food including a hot breakfast and lunch with other items. Click here to check out this year’s full menu.

So, after all of the prior events leading up to the big day, and after all donations were given and displayed, and after breakfast and lunch were served, we were ready for the live auction.

The auction this year was fun and energetic. The craft sale, silent auction, and food are all great, but you really have to attend the live auction to fully experience Harvest of Talents. The picture you see featured at the top of this page is a view of some of the wonderful items that were handcrafted for the event — furniture, quilts, toys, photography, etc.

The Harvest committee hopes that this little write-up will serve to show you about all of the things we do so that you can find a way to get involved in the future. It’s a lot of work and there are many aspects to it, but many hungry people will be fed through our efforts. Harvest of Talents for World Hunger is a celebration — a celebration of you, the God who gifted you, and life itself.

Watch our video slideshow of the big day here:

To God Be the Glory