Roswell Day of Hope Seeks Event Donations

With at least ten percent of Roswell families living at or below the poverty line, local churches are coming together to bring doctors, food and hope to those who need it most during the annual Roswell Day of Hope, Saturday May 4 at Mimosa Elementary School.

Families can get free checkups from doctors and dentists, while volunteers serve more than three thousand hot dogs and sandwiches. As a new feature this year, a thousand pairs of shoes will be given away courtesy of the charity organization, Samaritan’s Feet. Haircuts will be available as well as information for those seeking employment.

Perhaps most important to organizers is the prayer tent.

"While new shoes, haircuts and medical evaluations are important, it’s not what truly meets people’s needs," said Brenda Orlans, who is leading the effort. "Jesus is the answer for security and happiness."

The event can be life changing for those who volunteer as well as those who come to be served.

Volunteer Kevin Cross recalls a couple who were living in their car along with their two children whose lack of a permanent address kept them out of school. 

When members of Fellowship Bible Church heard the story, "all Heaven broke loose," said Cross, who serves as the church’s minister of generosity.

Church members banded together to see that the family ended up with a home, a job for the father and a year of financial help. At the next year’s event, the family was there as volunteers, wanting to take a turn at helping someone else. And it wasn’t the first time a family went from seeking help to serving.

The effort is led by Hope Roswell, a network of pastors and leaders from eleven churches of various denominations around the city. The first event was held in 2010 at Roswell City Hall. This year the location has been changed in order to be closer to people in need. Last year more than two thousand people came out for food and hope and prayer.

Cross can see the effects that hard economic times have had on those who come for help.

"I’ve seen more desperation," he said. "Seeing the preciousness of the people who have come from local neighborhoods with needs and being able to meet those needs, compels us as volunteers to rethink what is truly rich in this life. And then to introduce them to Jesus, the greatest of all treasures, makes this day of hope a lifetime of hope for all who attend."

Many are unaware of the poverty in their own community.

Volunteers come away changed when they see thousands of poor in Roswell "come out of the cracks," Cross said. "They see that these are people that God loves. There’s not a person who goes to the Day of Hope who isn’t forever changed."

Church members will often follow up with guests, offering to give them rides to church. Services in Spanish have helped to maintain connections with some of the families served.

Local churches are set to provide a thousand-plus volunteers, but Hope Roswell - which also supports foster-care families and provides Bible study, crafts and English lessons to low-income families throughout the year - is actively seeking donations to help fund the event. Anyone who wishes to help with donations can do so by going online to the website, or by calling 770-992-4956.

The community is also encouraged to spread the word to those in need. The event will be held at Mimosa Elementary School, 1550 Warsaw Road in Roswell from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday May 4. The event is open to all in need.