The Widow Project is an annual service project/fundraiser where volunteers who believe in the mission of this small but mighty nonprofit come together to take care of big needs for a local widow who needs help. Similar to a walkathon, volunteers are sponsored to raise funds that provide resources for women who have aged out of foster care.
The day dawned sunny and pleasantly cool, despite previous weeks of overly humid and rainy weather. And it was nothing like the chilly November day in 2019 when Ms. Alona’s husband succumbed to his battle with cancer, leaving her to manage a three-acre property on her own.
The Scope of Work
With two storage sheds straining at their seams with discarded items, an unused swimming pool on an unsafe deck, and ivy-covered trees galore, the widow grew overwhelmed. Not to mention, her husband’s illness had, for financial reasons, forced her to return to the job from which she’d recently retired. Despite her best efforts, the exterior of her home and the yard around it had fallen into disrepair.
Hope + Vine coordinated this year’s Widow Project around a wonderful team of volunteers who were ready and willing, but were definitely not experts. The scope of work seemed above their capabilities, but the planning committee forged ahead with hope and prayers tucked between a growing list of supplies and needs for this undertaking.
God Provides In a Miraculous Way
The owner of Little Squirrels, a tree removal and landscaping company, had a dream the week before the work was to be completed that he was doing a service project. This dream stuck with him over the next day, and he couldn’t stop contemplating it.
Unbeknownst to him, a pastor on staff with Celebration Church, despite having already sponsored the project, couldn’t stop thinking of other ways he might help. The next day, he decided to call his friend Travis, whom he hadn’t spoken to in a while. When asked how he was doing, Travis told him about the dream. It became clear to all involved that God had orchestrated this entire series of events.
Travis and his crew from Little Squirrels generously—and beyond the planning committee’s wildest dreams—went out to the property a day before the volunteers and took care of a huge portion of the work. They went above and beyond to complete even more than what was on the list. The volunteers had a relatively straightforward set of tasks to complete the next day, filling up dumpsters donated by Blackwell Builders.
Caring for the Vulnerable
Through all of this hard day’s work, Ms. Alona was right in the midst. She worked alongside, making the day even more special as she interacted with these huge-hearted people who cared about her needs.
As James 1:27 commands us to care for the widows and orphans, this team took care of the honored widow in support of former foster youth.