Dear Abundant Life Family,
I hope this post finds you well, and that you are enjoying this holiday season! This has certainly been quite the year for all of us. I wanted to personally reach out to first say THANK YOU, for all the ways that your partnership has enabled Abundant Life to make a difference in the lives of Prospect neighborhood residents. I’ve been amazed by the support that our individual and institutional partners have shown, I’ve been amazed by the resilience of neighborhood families that have been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and I’ve been amazed by the beautiful things that can happen when people come together during such a challenging time.
Defining our next steps
I hope that you already viewed our annual report, which highlights many of the things for which we are grateful this year. But I am also reaching out to ask for your help as we take our next steps in 2021 to support local families. As we prepare for the uncertainties of next year, a few of our goals include 1) hiring Abundant Life’s first ever Program Director to help oversee our youth academic and mentoring efforts, 2) finishing basement renovations in one of our houses so that our participants, volunteers, and staff can safely socially distance whenever indoors, and 3) increasing our staffing support for our elementary virtual learning center. Elementary Programming Coordinator Angel Feero summed up the first semester of leading our virtual learning center:
“This weekend was absolutely beautiful and I’m still thanking God for sustaining myself, the kids and their families, our staff and volunteers for the entire semester without any COVID cases at our learning center. It was so hard in the beginning to rationalize being in-person with students to help them with virtual learning when many were arguing about the dangers and risks of opening schools. I was amazed by God’s faithfulness and provision throughout this time, and so humbled by volunteers —who were at higher risk because of age, underlying health concerns, and even pregnancy — showing up week after week to help support our amazing students.”
You have a role to play
Without the support of partners like you, these next steps will not happen. But with your help, they can become tangible blessings in the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors. If you would like to financially invest in the lives of Prospect neighborhood families as we prepare for 2021, you can give online or mail a check to Abundant Life Ministries at P.O. Box 71, Charlottesville, VA 22902. Any donations made online or postmarked by December 31 are tax-deductible for this year, and thanks to the CARES Act, taxpayers who don’t itemize may deduct up to $300 for donations made in 2020. And if you have already given, thank you! We are hopeful that with your help we will be able to finish the year in a financially strong position and see all of our neighbors experience an Abundant Life.
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With gratitude,
Nathan Walton
Executive Director[/two_fifth]
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