Leroy Barber's Blog
Team Member Update / 05.18.10, 10:19 AM
Dear Friends,
I thought I would share with you the story of one of our incredible team members. I hope you get as inspired as I do when reading it.
Leroy Barber
Destiny Martin
It’s hard to focus on your day’s work when you’re worried about paying the bills. It’s hard to keep a sense of “calling” when you’re not sure how your bills will be paid. This is a lesson learned the hard way by many people in the southwest Philadelphia community I’m currently serving in with Mission Year — and it’s a lesson I’m having to learn personally as well.
I love the work I’m doing with Mission Year; I really feel that I’ve been called to serve the community where I’ve been placed. But this year, Mission Year fundraising has been harder than I ever expected it would be. Heading into my eighth month, I’ve only raised about $1,000 of my $12,000 goal.
I seek out support in every way that I know how: praying fervently, spreading the word to people I meet — plus, every month I send newsletters to family members, friends, associates, and church members. Yet responses are few and far between, and monthly giving commitments are even more rare.
Over Christmas break, I had the opportunity to speak to my home church about my role with Mission Year — what I’m learning, how I’m growing, and my need for financial support. At the end of my short talk, the congregation held an offering on my behalf and raised about $100. That $100 contribution was incredibly meaningful because my church consists of only 20-30 members, many of whom have so little to give but are willing to give what they do have to help others.
Almost all of the people in my church have received a monthly newsletter and have told me that they are proud of me; they’ve asked about my neighbors and teammates in Philadelphia and inquired about specific things that I’ve shared in those letters. The problem is not unwillingness to give; the problem is that the majority of people in my network come from struggling lower-income families, like me. It is because I grew up in this environment that I feel I truly have a heart for the types of communities served by Mission Year. But people cannot give what they do not have — and most of my acquaintances and family friends just don’t have the resources to support me financially.
I know that my parents would really love to give more to my Mission Year fund and are helping as much as they can, but as they are already covering most of the many medical supplies and doctor visits I need to treat my Type I Diabetes, there is little left over to contribute to my fundraising goal.
It’s hard not to get discouraged as month after month passes with so little money coming in—especially as I see my teammates reaching or even exceeding their fundraising goals while I struggle to bring in a couple hundred dollars. It’s hard not to feel that people simply don’t care about me or my work. But I remind myself that I am cared for by my home church family, even if they can’t express it through financial support.
Although I have few donations, I am grateful for each one that I have. I haven’t given up, nor do I plan to. I continue to seek out new donors and remain hopeful that fundraising will come in. In the meantime, I’ll keep sending out letters and waiting for their responses with an expectant heart.
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