COMMUNITY CONNECTION: THE ROP SHOP AND OCi LEND A HAND TO FAMILY AND ADOPTION CENTERED, GATEWAY WOODS
WRITTEN BY: KATE HUFFMAN
On Thursday, November 19th, 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, such as blowing leaves, cleaning gutters, and clearing away fallen trees. To help with some of the work, we brought along a couple of our Grasshopper zero-turn mowers, one with a leaf bagger attachment and one with a leaf blower attachment. They really made a difference since we were working with a smaller crew and made the work more manageable.
Gateway Woods is an organization located in Leo, Indiana. Their mission is to honor and obey God by providing help and healing to troubled children and families.
In 1976 the Apostolic Christian Children's Home opened with two locations and four staff. In 1989, they started offering other services outside of the children’s home and changed their name to Gateway Woods. Their Christ-centered social services now include adoption, foster care, Gateway Farms, LARC mentorship, residential, and school programs.
Saturday, November 21st was adoption day at Gateway Woods! Because older children and teens are generally avoided by potential adoptive parents, these kids tend to age out of the foster care system. But Gateway Woods specializes in placing kids of this age range in loving homes, helping them find hope for their futures.
We’re so thankful to have a program like this in our area which enriches our community, and it’s an honor to show them our appreciation.
If you’d like to learn more about Gateway Woods, please visit their website at https://gatewaywoods.org/
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.”
There’s no denying that this year has been a difficult one for many, and the world desperately needs the love of Christ. With the holiday season rapidly approaching, charity organizations across the world are ramping up for what promises to be one of the most challenging Christmases ever. One such organization that The ROP Shop is seeking to help is Operation Christmas Child...
This is a story about how an owner’s manual for a used 10-year-old John Deere garden tractor became more than 40 new jobs. It is also a story, according to at least three people, about the mysterious ways that God works. Read more to see how a lawn and garden landscaping company gave birth to a highly successful online eCommerce business that supplies OEM and aftermarket parts across the country and around the world.
The Wells County Chamber of Commerce held its 106th annual dinner and awards program, with the top honors going to John Reinhard as the Citizen of the Year, Outdoor Concepts (Steve, Gayla, and Landon Gerber) as the Business of the Year (The ROP Shop's parent company), and Ginny Vogel (Bluffton-Harrison Elementary School), Dee Yonker (Lancaster Central Elementary School), and Chris Painter (Southern Wells Junior-Senior High School) as the Educators of the Year.