On my own, I’m one person with a modest income. Giving is something I love to do, but being able to multiply that giving through VMP with YOUR help has been mind-blowing to be a part of and one of my favorite parts of owning a business.
WHY WE GIVE
We have always given a small portion of sales to charities but in 2016, after praying for our business, my husband and I decided to tithe 10% of our businesses the same way we tithe as a family. I wholeheartedly believe that VMP is a business I have been called to steward and not one that I am sole owner of. This is me physically taking action on that and trusting God with it. Since that initial step of faith, we have been greatly blessed and upped our giving to 15% of all sales to ministries that we’ve prayerfully decided on.
WHAT WE GIVE
We partner with Reciprocal Ministries International to provide meals for two schools in Haiti. About 500 students will get a hot meal every day of the school year thanks to your orders in our shop! (With extra funds we’ve been able to help finish building a school in just a few months that was started years ago.) After talking with the coordinators for RMI, we learned just how impactful a daily hot meal is for their ability to learn and their overall health in general. We saw photos of visible improvement in their health after a year of the program and we were blown away to see what God could do through something that seems so simple. In 2019, we started partnering with Bridge Ministry of Acadiana, a local organization providing free Christian education in the heart of Lafayette’s poorest neighborhood. 5% of all sales goes here.
HOW WE CHOSE OUR CHARITIES
In The Legacy Journey, Dave Ramsey challenges givers to not simply give carelessly but to really vet companies and choose ones that are being responsible with donations. I took this challenge seriously and worked Bailey from Abel Impact to vet organizations that we were interested in. I kept coming back to this program that had been a part of my life since I was a little girl. Our church has been partnering with RMI for decades so we have sponsored lots of kids over the years as a family when I was growing up and have continued now in our own family. My mom, dad and sister have all visited on mission trips and now that I can fly, I am eager to take a trip to see all the kids that will be impacted by the meals program! Partnering with the Bridge Ministry was a full circle moment as well. I remember dropping off food with my mom for their after-school program when I was younger. They’ve since grown from an after-school program in a small house to a Christian school in a new building.