World AIDS Day

Today is world AIDS day. And although this is a clip supporting (RED) through Mocha Club just $5 can provide the life-sustaining Anti-Retroviral medication. Its simple, save a life.

Feel the need to give a one time gift? Click Here.

Bring the Change

I was just thinking about Mocha Club and was really lost as to what I could do now at college because I don't have the same abilities I did before at VC, then I stumbled acrossed this.

How cool is this?!?!

Finishing the School Year

Graduation has officially come and gone, now the three of us will go our separate ways as we head to college. Before the school office closed for the summer we got our canister that had been sitting in the office window for the majority of the year. I've finally totalled it up and we have raised $400.00! That is so amazing and I am so excited about how many people we can help.

International Justice Day

Today is International Justice Day.

With this knowledge we are called to act. What will you do? Are you ready to change the world? Don't wait!

Mowing Lawns and Making a Difference!

It's always encouraging when someone stops me in the hallway to tell me that they're proud of my friends and me or give me some extra change they have in their pocket for Mocha Club. I love the heart of some people. There's a junior higher at VCS that particularly caught my interest and really brought me to tears when he tracked me down in the hallway the other day.

Seventh grader, Scotty Worley, came up to me with his arm outstretched and some cash in his hand. I looked at him with a puzzled look because its not every day that a junior high boy forks over cash for no reason... or ever for that matter!! He said, "It's for Mocha Club!" I smiled and figured it was a dollar bill but when I lifted it from his fingers the number it revealed was 20 instead of 1... I looked up in amazement and said, "SCOTTY!?" He smiled and began to explain.

Apparently, this young man is more of an adult than I'd ever thought. He told me how he started a lawn mowing business and was dedicated to donating his first 3 paychecks to Mocha Club. I almost started to cry! I was so shocked that anyone would do something so profound and so Christ-Like. His servants heart and love for Jesus Christ truly shone threw him at that moment and I can honestly say I've never been more proud of a junior higher in my entire life!

His mom later told me that he had promised God he'd donate his first three paychecks to help some charity and felt Mocha Club was a proper fit for the position. Completely baffled and extremely touched by the support, I decided that he needed to be advertised because he not only deserves the money, hes also tithing before he's even got a STEADY INCOME! Most ADULTS don't tithe!!! HOLY COW! I am so in awe of this kid! I swear! He's amazing. It's just plain and simple.

I'll put all his contact information below so you can call him up and have him MOW AWAY! :) He's such a role-model for his generation and I hope this inspires you to give more just like Scotty. Scotty. We love you so much. Thank you for all your help and support. We'd love to get you involved in Mocha Club and want to start involving you in campaign process this summer as well as set you up so you can continue to raise money for Mocha Club at VCS while we are away at college. :) We're handing the baton to you my friend. :) Take it and start sprinting! :)

God Bless You Scotty!!
All my love,
Your "big sister,"
~Sammie R.

Scotty's Mowing Service includes: Lawn mowing, weed-whacking, weeding, sidewalk-patio-and-deck sweeping, and even 'doggy dropping pickup.'
It's $10 an hour (or) negotiable by the job. It even has a senior discount!!!
You can call Scotty @ (509) 533-9571 or email him at scoblu@gmail.com to reserve your weekly or bi-weekly lawn maintenance service for this summer...
It also says that He is committed to donate 10% of his profits to Mocha Club. Scotty, you rock. :) Keep up the good work and hopefully this brings in some serious business for you! :)

On Air1!

So today I was totally driving around in my car to all the great places I need to be with my radio tuned to Air1 and they started talking about Mocha Club! It is their featured cause right now and it was totally great to hear about it on the radio where so many people around the country can discover it.

Check it out on their web site: www.air1.com/Ministry/Partners/Featured.aspx

~Sydney E.

Update

Here is just a quick update because we have been pretty busy the past few weeks. With the crazy demands right now that we have from school with graduation and college our work for Mocha Club has been sadly pushed to the back burner. I'm hoping that once we are graduates our time will free up a bit more so we can devote more of our time and energy to this. But we have made some slow progress and after emptying our can that sits outside our school office and totaling all the spare change rolling around my house we have come to a total of $324.79. Yay!

We continue to search for new and fun ideas to mix up our fundraising campaign. If you have any suggestions or words of encouragement we would really appreciate them.

~Sydney E.

Raising Awareness

Fundraisers have been difficult for us now that basketball games are over so coming up with new fun ideas has been a slow process. While we are waiting for our brains to jump-start we have made a collection container that we placed in the office window at our school. Many people have asked us about it so I finally made a beautiful masterpiece lol. It does the job, and it has become weighted down with change. How great is that? We haven't even had to do anything and people are still wanting to make change for Africa!

Our school recently had an auction to raise funds for the next school year and the three of us got together and donated a Mocha Club basket. It was a bummer because we couldn't get it to work out to where the money donated for our basket would go to us, but we found it to still be a great opportunity to share with someone outside our school the need and a way to get involved. In our basket we put a travel mug, two coffee cups, a bean grinder, two bags of beans and a copy of our video. It didn't sell for as much as we would have like but nonetheless it was a great chance to get our cause into the hands of someone else.

~Sydney E.

Hey I'm: Stephen E.

Hey I'm Stephen. I am eighteen years old and in my last year of high school. I am a pretty cheerful guy. From a pretty early age my favorite verses have been Psalm 144:15 "Happy are those whose God is the Lord." and Proverbs 17:22 "A happy heart does good like medicine." I really love trying to pass that joy around. I play football and tennis but I don't plan on pursuing either. I teach Sunday School at my church and absolutely love it. Reaching out and teaching kids is really my passion. I can't get enough! Kids are great and I learn as much or more from them as they do from me.

From there it is pretty easy to see why Mocha Club is important to me. When I realized how many children in Africa were in need it really broke my heart, and when I learned how easy it was to help it was an easy choice to get involved. God's Word tells us to help those in need and I feel so blessed that I am able to help those that are less fortunate than I am. Especially in such an easy and fun way through Mocha Club. I want to continue to help Africa no matter what. God does amazing things and I know He will bless the continent of Africa through Mocha Club.

~Stephen E.

Hey I'm: Sydney E.

Hey I'm Sydney, a senior in high school. I am the class treasurer and I sing on the Worship Team. Sports are a major part of my life with volleyball over and tennis starting I am a busy girl. However my true athletic passion is equestrian show jumping. I am blessed to own my own incredible horse. To follow my dreams of becoming an Olympic athlete I will be pursuing Riding and Instruction as a major.

While I am working towards a solid future I am also determined to continue reaching out to Africa. After seeing what needs to be done not doing something to help is not an option to me. Lamentations 2:19 "Pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord. Lift up your hands to him for the lives of your children, who faint from hunger at the head of every street." This continues to inspire me to keep up all efforts to do what I can. What the Mocha Club does is simply amazing and I get to be apart of it!

God is good and gracious and through us we can do his work for those in need. How amazing is that?! That a huge, all-powerful God can use someone as small and insignificant like me to help do His good and perfect will blows my mind! I am letting the Lord lead my life because "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm, plans to give you hope and a future" Jeremiah 29:11.

~Sydney E.

Hey I'm: Sammie R.

The name’s Sammie. I’m a senior this year, OW OW! I am very involved in my school, I am most usually utilized for certain Graphic Design elements that the school does. I love my class! We are very close and I’m so blessed to call them my friends! I’m not your average girl! I love to make people laugh and smile but I’ve been through quite a bit in my life but I plan to use it to show people God’s amazing love and redemption through the saving grace of Jesus Christ! I plan to go into Graphic Design for my future career field. Design is my passion!

I also have a heart for ministry , mostly youth but I love it all! My heart is taken 100% by Jesus Christ and I wouldn’t have it any other way! Mocha Club for me has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I get to help change the world while it changes mine, AND I get to do it with my best friends at my side. How cool is that?! God has really given me a passion for ministry and missions and I would LOVE to go to Africa to give life and share the gospel!

I love getting lost in God’s word and the verse I cling onto for the change I want to bring to this world is Deuteronomy 15:11; “There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.” So I’ll ask you, just like I was asked, “So you wanna change the world? What are you waiting for?”

God Bless

~Sammie R.

Some Recognition.

Recently the work Sammie, Stephen, and I have done has been recognized in a couple ways. The first was in our schools quarterly newsletter where our principal Derick Tabish talked about passing on a purpose to those younger than us and helping one another grow as servants of the Lord. At the end of his article he complimented us on the challenging work we are doing to send a helping hand to Africa through the Mocha Club.

After contacting our representative from Mocha Club and telling her about our efforts and this blog, she immediately linked us back from their website. Check it out by clicking on the Mocha Club Make Change Campaign link.

We can't believe the support we have gotten and continue to give all the credit to God! Only He knows the plans He has for us but they are plans to prosper us and to give us strength.

~Sydney E.

Fundraiser no. 3!!!

This past Thursday we had our third and final basketball halftime fundraiser. Our team was playing the Rearden Indians and their crowd was few. I must admit I doubted the success we were going to receive. But great is the Lord, He proved that even small numbers can generate a big response. We made $57 dollars and some change! Our efforts to make change are doing just that, we have raised over $178 dollars all for Africa! So far our short journey to relief has been a prosperous one, God is definitely not done with us!

Here are some pictures of us hard at work :).

We have had tons of fun thus far! And we don't plan on slowing down.

~Sydney E.

Fundraiser #2! Ow ow! :)

This time around we weren't expecting to make much because the opposing team was much smaller. We walked in with our hearts full and ready to receive anything that God had for us. As we started the fundraiser it basically played out the same. With determined people and Stephen's mad auctioneer skills we made a good $50s. It was really encouraging to see two teams and masses of people come together like one big family and really care about the cause! :) It was nice to see the unity and experience the amazing and life changing love of God.

We were SO blessed by all the people who helped out without question and we were also extremely excited to make more than we ever could have imagined! We are off to a fantastic start and are SO excited to see what God has in store for the future!!! PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU HAVE A TIME FOR US TO EXPLAIN WHAT WE ARE DOING AND THROW A FUNDRAISER OR JUST RAISE AWARENESS! It would be such a blessing to be recommended to campaign more than just at the schools' home basketball games! We are looking for youth groups and conventions to further God's calling for this campaign!!!

Thank you so much for your support!

With God's Love,
~Sammie R.