GAP Ministries

WEEK 53 What a beautiful morning God blessed us with to serve today! We served 106 households experiencing food insecurity including 37 walking bags of sandwiches and snacks for people with nowhere to cook. Groceries included canned goods,pasta,cereal, fresh lettuce, bananas, a dozen eggs, swiss cheese and a choice of meat. Thanks again to our friends at Covenant Presbyterian for the homemade baked goods. These baggies of love always make people smile.... Our diaper bank volunteer had a record breaking day with families of 75 children receiving a week's worth of diapers for each child. Our birth certificate volunteer got back 5 birth certificates, gave 5 out and sent off 6 new applications. Our photo ID volunteers took 5 people to the DDS. 3 of those people now have their photo ID. Now they are one step closer to employment. Our nurses helped 27 people with their prescription needs. Week 53 ended, once again bringing all the tables, chairs and files back inside. We're still wearing masks and limiting access inside the building. It is tiring, but the only way we feel we can continue our efforts to fill the gaps of need for those who come to us safely. Hopefully, one day soon, Richmond county will lift the pandemic restrictions . Until then, we will continue to smile under our masks knowing God is in control. Please continue to pray for GAP. In His service, Elaine

WEEK 52 AT GAP! That is a whole year of working outside, in masks, and socially distancing yet still serving God by helping those in need in downtown Augusta. Thanks be to God for helping us to stay open. It seems as though we have returned to our pre-COVID numbers in respect to people with food insecurity. We served 104 households with groceries including 42 people requesting a walking bag of sandwiches and snacks due to them having nowhere to cook. Groceries included canned... goods, cereal, toilet paper, fresh lettuce, a dozen eggs, bread, a choice of frozen meat and a pound of butter. We were even able to help a vegetarian family this week. Our diaper bank volunteer helped families of 38 children with a weeks worth of diapers. Our nurses had a few less than normal, helping 27 people with their prescription medications. We hadn't seen one client for awhile who had been in the hospital and was anxious to get his prescription filled to help with his healing. Our birth certificate volunteers got back 3 birth certificates, gave out 5 and sent 5 new applications. Our photo ID volunteer made 3 trips to the DDS taking 8 people total. Six of those people now have their photo ID. It is a time of transition for us at GAP. We are seeing clients we haven't seen for many months. We are also missing some people we had been seeing 6 months ago. We have no way of telling what these next months will bring, but we are confident that God will provide us with enough hands and enough supplies to serve. We thank you for your prayers and all the support you show to this ministry. In His service, Elaine

WEEK 50 God blessed us with a sunny but chilly day to serve yesterday. Our photo ID volunteer took 9 people to the DDS. Eight of those people now have a photo ID. Our birth certificate volunteer got back 3 certificates, gave out 2 and sent off 9 new applications.... Our 3 nurses available to serve yesterday helped 35 people get their prescriptions. Our food pantry served 89 people including 27 walking bags for people with nowhere to cook. Groceries included canned goods, pasta, toilet paper, granola bars, bread, a bag of fresh produce, a pound of butter, liquid hand soap and a choice of meat. Our numbers were low this week we think due to the first of the month and stimulus checks. This tells us people are only coming to us when they need the help. Our diaper bank volunteer helped families of 53 children with 2 week’s worth of diapers due to us being closed next week. We traditionally close for Masters Week due to our volunteers going out of town. One of our clients had a birthday yesterday. We managed to find an extra bakery item for him and sing happy birthday. He was 66. It was a joy to share his story of how he got to Augusta. As we head closer to Easter, may we remember the gift of love and life our Christ gave to us all. We hope everyone we meet will know the love of God by the way we treat them. Please continue to pray for GAP. Happy Easter everyone! In His service, Elaine this is a bit late on posting. Holy weekend took over. HE IS RISEN INDEED! We look forward to returning NEXT WEEK with all the services available. Sent from my iPhone

WEEK 49 It has been 2 weeks since you have received an email. Last week we made the difficult decision to close, based on the heavy rains and hail forecasted for last Thursday morning. Golden Harvest food bank alerted us that they would be closed for the day so we would need to pick up food another day. Also Richmond and Aiken county schools closed for the day. With all this information we decided to close for the safety of our clients and volunteers travelling to and from G...AP. This morning we were blessed with a beautiful day with a wonderful breeze. Thanks be to God! Our nurses were able to help 30 people with prescription assistance. Our diaper bank volunteer helped families of 47 children with a week's worth of diapers. Our birth certificate volunteers got back 10 certificates, gave out 18 and sent off 6 new applications. They had a busy day! Our photo ID volunteer transported 5 people to the DDS. 3 of those people now have their photo ID. Our food pantry served 131 households including 38 walking bags for people with nowhere to cook. Groceries included canned goods, cereal, granola bars, toilet paper, bar soap, sliced cheese, a bag of fresh produce, a bag of bread and a choice of frozen meat. Many thanks go out to St Andrew Presbyterian for their food drive of 547.8 pounds of food for our pantry. Also thanks go out to our faithful bakers at Covenant Presbyterian for the home baked cookies and bars they make and bag for our clients. As we worked today, I was once again amazed at the hospitality our volunteers give throughout the day. This brought to mind my devotional this morning which said: "Never doubt God's love and power. Your heights of success will be won by the daily persistent doing of what God has said. Daily, steady persistence. Like the wearing away of a stone by steady drops of water, so will our daily persistence wear away all the difficulties and gain success for us, and secure our help for others. Wonders have unfolded. More still will unfold, beyond our dreams, beyond our hopes.'" We thank God for his love. Please continue to pray for GAP. In His service, Elaine

Due to weather concerns, GAP IS CLOSED TOMORROW MARCH 18. We will be back next week.

Week 48... a bit late Praise be to God for the beautiful day we had to serve at GAP! All 4 of our nurses were able to work today. Together they helped 27 people with their prescription needs. One of our clients relies on medication for her to cope with the horrors of her past and her day to day stressors. She had been in jail for several weeks without her medication. She came to us today overwhelmed, sobbing and desperate for help. Our nurse on site handled her with respe...ct but remained stern in order to calm her down. It is our prayer that this woman will be able to regain her composure as she returns to taking her meds. The people who come to GAP for prescription assistance are vulnerable. Their stories of what they have been through are hard to grasp. Our nurses go the extra mile to help each person. Our birth certificate volunteers got back 6 certificates, gave out 4 and sent off 6 new applications. Our photo ID volunteer transported 6 people to the DDS. Three of those people were able to get their photo ID. Our diaper bank volunteer helped the families of 47 children. 131 households received bags including canned goods, pasta, lettuce,bread and a choice of meat. Our walking bag volunteer wore herself out today putting together 44 bags for people with nowhere to cook. We welcomed volunteers from the Fair Fight organization today to help people register to vote. GAP is committed to working with other groups in our community. We are blessed with enough space outside to continue to welcome groups to join us. God has blessed GAP greatly. We have wonderful volunteers who work together showing grace towards each other. The people who come to us each week show us grace by waiting patiently, accepting changes in our flow and wearing masks on our property. As the hymn says " Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place" Please continue to pray for GAP. In His service, Elaine

WEEK 47 What a beautiful day we were blessed with this week to serve God by helping people in downtown Augusta! It was the first Thursday of the month which is usually a slower week. Not true this week as we provided groceries to 122 households experiencing food insecurity. This includes 38 walking bags with sandwiches and snacks for people with nowhere to cook. This week , groceries included canned goods, pasta, toilet paper, protein bars, bread, fresh lettuce and a choic...Continue reading

Happy Day After Christmas.... and onto a better year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvM3Lp_BZeQ

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.

WEEK 38 ( the last in 2020) God blessed us, once again, with a dry Thursday. It was cold, the wind made it colder, but it is December. Both volunteers and people who came were bundled up as best they could. With hats and masks it is hard to recognize people. We were still blessed with sharing smiling eyes and happy wishes for the coming celebration of the birth of Christ. Traditionally, GAP has given cloth bags filled with the groceries for a Christmas dinner. We were conce...Continue reading