Published: December 16, 2008
On Tuesday, Atlanta's Courageous Church, a new church plant scheduled to launch mid-January next year, will deliver more than $20,000 in toys and uniforms for 500 youth of a local impoverished Atlanta elementary school.
The church, led by 29-year old Shaun King, raised the funds utilizing only "new media" and social network outlets including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, various blogs and the creation of a specialized website: 500toys.org.
King sparked the interest of nearly 300 donors from 22 states to give towards the initiative, at a time when many non-profit organizations and churches alike have reported a decrease in charitable contributions this holiday season.
"With a number of Atlanta's recreation centers shut down because of budget cutbacks," says King, "one toy and one uniform for every child may not pay the bills, but it puts grins on the faces of some students and teachers that are living through some pretty tough times."
School officials praised the church's creative fundraising efforts. "Shaun and the staff of The Courageous Church are excited, but we're even more excited than they are," says Dr. Marlo Barber, Principal of Frank L. Stanton Elementary School.
"This is going to mean so much to our families and to us as well. It keeps the staff motivated to do even more when people who don't even know us are willing to share their time, joy, and let's not forget money, with us!"
For more information on The Courageous Church, log onto http://www.courageous.tv
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