Community Connection: How We Build It Better Together
WRITTEN BY: KATE HUFFMAN
What better way to pour back into our neighborhoods than to serve those who serve others?
This past Wednesday (Nov. 6th, 2019), The ROP Shop teamed up with our parent company, Outdoor Concepts Inc (local outdoor equipment store and landscaping service provider). Together we gave some love back to our community by tending the grounds of Gateway Woods.
If you’re not familiar with Gateway Woods, it’s an organization in Allen County, Indiana which offers six programs to support troubled children, teens, and families. Under the Residential Care program, struggling young men and women experience the love and guidance of family. These same teens are offered job opportunities and the chance to acquire life skills at Gateway Farms, where they can learn to plant crops, care for animals, and sell produce. These programs aren’t just about improving our community as it is today; it’s about investing in our youth for a better, brighter future.
Gateway Woods began in 1976 as the Apostolic Christian Children’s Home. In 1989, they started offering other services outside of the children’s home, thus the change in name. They’ve been in Leo, Indiana for all of their 40+ years as they have continued to grow and bless our area.
To thank Gateway Woods for the invaluable role they play in enriching families’ lives, we spruced up the grounds around their main campus, Residential Care houses, and their school. Most of the work was to prepare the grounds for winter by pruning bushes and trees, clearing away landscaping beds, and gathering fallen tree limbs. After our hard-working volunteers cleaned up heaps of leaves around the campus and homes, they transported the leaves to the gardens for mulching. Two birds, one stone!
A huge thank you to the gentlemen who gave their time to contribute to our community. We could not have made this happen without you! As Coretta Scott King once said, “The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.” The ROP Shop, Outdoor Concepts, and our cities are richer for having you in them!
The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.
Have you volunteered for or supported your community recently? If not, we’d like to challenge you to check with your local food bank, library, animal shelter, soup kitchen, church, or other organization. Together we can improve our society and make our world a better place!
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There’s no denying that the past two years have been agonizing. The COVID pandemic has adversely affected many people in many places, but it has impacted impoverished countries even harder than most. Without access to medical care or the resources to stay safe, the poverty level in these countries has risen even further, causing issues like child labor, human trafficking, and lack of access to education to skyrocket. That’s why organizations such as Forgotten Children Worldwide are working even harder than ever to meet needs in India and Malawi. See how The ROP Shop is doing its part.
If you aren’t familiar with Samaritan’s Purse, it’s an organization based on a similar principle: to provide spiritual and physical aid to hurting people around the world. One of their most widely known ministries, Operation Christmas Child, distributes shoeboxes packed with gifts and toys to children in need across the globe. According to Samaritan Purse’s website, “Since 1993, more than 188 million children in more than 170 countries and territories have received an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. The project delivers not only the joy of what, for many kids, is their first gift ever, but also gives them a tangible expression of God’s love.”
The ROP Shop would like to thank the Better Business Bureau of Northern Indiana for honoring us with the BBB Torch Award for 2021. We’re humbled not only to receive this award but also to be part of this wonderful community. As stated on the BBB’s website, “The Torch Awards is the most prestigious honor the BBB can present to a business or individual. Recipients not only believe in the high standards promoted by the BBB but live it out. The awarded company encourages and supports ethical business practices and leadership while acting on them and continuously integrating them into daily practices.”
The ROP Shop and Outdoor Concepts got together for our annual clean-up day at Gateway Woods. With the challenge of keeping things safely socially distanced due to COVID, fewer associates were able to attend. Even so, we were able to provide some fall maintenance for the main campus of Gateway Woods ...