“It's simple, but it's deep."
"I was surprised by how it affected the mentors," Gary told me after the event.
Pastor Gary Greer had attended Breakfast for the Bridge last year, where he heard the testimonies of several Lunch Buddy mentors: “I was prepared to hear how mentoring affects the lives of children, and it does, but the volunteers shared stories about how mentoring had affected their own lives.”
At The Bridge, we believe that one caring adult, committed for the long haul, can change the trajectory of a child's life, but Gary was surprised by how mentoring affected the mentors themselves. And he took it to heart.
Gary shared what he had learned with some of the leaders at his church in Lawrence. “It sounded so simple, but I also saw how it could be so deep. I felt called to bring Lunch Buddies to Lawrence.”
Gary worked with our team at The Bridge to make connections with Lawrence Public Schools. Gary’s church, BridgePointe Community Church, gathered a small team of mentors and adopted Woodlawn Elementary School.
“It’s been great! Almost exactly like I pictured it. The only thing that has surprised me is how open the school staff has been. Our connection with the staff is much deeper than I expected!”
Lunch Buddies is simple. The Bridge helps empower churches to adopt an elementary school and recruit volunteer mentors. Each mentor signs up to invest thirty minutes per week in the life of one elementary school student for one school year. Mentors are trained to show up, listen, love, and then go home and pray for one student. "It’s a great way to serve," Gary said, "It's simple, but it's deep."
One year later, Gary and his team are wrapping up their first year and are beginning to look toward next year: “Our team of mentors is fully vested, completely into it. We hope to get more churches involved!”
Thank you for helping make this possible! Whether you volunteer as a lunch buddy or you give financially to support our mission, you help to empower northeast Kansas kids to become servant leaders.
Thank you!