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The Summer Celebration on Friday and Saturday, July
23 and July 24 was a huge success with nearly 3,000 residents from
around the city attending the Sixth Annual Celebration at the Edison
Neighborhood’s Upjohn Park. The attendance was nearly double from last
year’s Celebration!
Reverend Spencer
Jones from Southside Tabernacle Assembly of God in Chicago, was the
featured speaker at the Crusade Services on Friday and Saturday. Pastor
Jones is a powerful speaker sharing the good new of Jesus Christ. Nearly
200 people responded to the message and prayed to receive Jesus.
Winners of 3 on
3 basketball games
The Ministry Tent which housed the Prayer
Booth, Dream Center Information and the Gideon Bibles was a great
success. Many people stopped by for prayer and to get a free Bible.
There were 200 Bibles given away! In addition many people shared how
much the Dream Center meant to them and how great it is that the Dream
Center provides so much for people who are hurting and in need.
For the second year in a row, the Hair Cutting Tent
was a big hit! Four volunteers who attend a local barber school donated
their time on Saturday to cut hair. The first of 108 haircuts began
around 10 a.m. and the last was finished close to 7 p.m. There was still
a long line waiting for haircuts at the closing of the day. The
volunteer barbers averaged 12 cuts an hour, that is three haircuts per
barber! That’s Incredible!
This year was also phenomenal for the Clothing Tent.
The tent opened at 1 p.m. and was totally full of clothing, but by 4
p.m. the ten was closed because there was nothing to give away!
Unbelievable!
Throughout the day, the
food both provided a free lunch, popcorn and sno-cones to over 2,000
people. An additional 300 hot dogs and buns had to be purchased to
provide lunch for every person who registered! God is so good!
The Family Photo Tent returned for a second year as
one of the most popular tents with 283 family photos taken. Nineteen
rolls of film were purchased and the last picture on the last roll of
film was taken just as everything was closing down for the afternoon
Crusade Service.
The Dental Hygiene Tent was new to the
Celebration this year. Wendy, the Hygienist who headed up this area said
“ I was amazes at the response of the people. I planned for 2,000 and
it has been overwhelming. It has been a real blessing to share with
parents and their children on how to care for their teeth.
Another new feature this year was a 1948 truck
rebuilt to include a puppet stage. Many of the children enjoyed the
puppets. Afterwards they played games and had their faces painted and
were given balloon animals made by several clowns. In addition to the
games to play, there were many blow up games as well as rock climbing
wall. There were lines of children waiting for their turn all day
Saturday. It was great day for the Kids!
At the puppet show
People lining up to receive free groceries. 500 bags of
groceries were given away.
There were many door prizes given away this year.
Several bikes, games, gift certificates, musical CD’s a screen tent
and the grand prize: a brand new set of bunk beds. A grandmother won the
bunk beds for her grandchildren. In addition, 500 bags of groceries were
given away to everyone who registered with a need for groceries.
Overall, the Sixth Annual Summer Celebration was a
tremendous hit! The volunteers were fantastic and worked very hard. All
the sponsors and Dream Center Partners made this possible through there
generous gifts and donations. People were blessed, lives were changed
and to God be all the Glory! We look forward to next year! |
