Year in Review: The 2011 De-Brief

Friends, We hope this post finds you refreshed and grateful at the close of another year! HFO experienced some incredible growth in 2011--in the depth of our programming, scope of fundraising, and student relationships. As you may know, each blessing brings more responsibility, challenges, and hope along with it. Thankful for these opportunities, we would like to re-cap some of the highlights—

• HFO excitedly received our first and second grants from the Pugh Family Foundation to fund the ‘Agents of Hope’ high school internship program, which launched with the hiring of five seniors from OHS to work with our after-school program.

• Spring Break mission teams visited Opelousas once again! We played host to thirty college students for a week, serving all over Opelousas in the name of Christ. This work included helping to raise $13,000 with ‘A Night on the Town’ homelessness awareness event, with more than 600 attendees.

• Two interns helped support us this year—the ‘2011 Summer Internship’ program brought Nadine Lundgren to HFO to serve as our summer intern. HFO also hired our first ‘Grace Corps’ member, Hannah McBride, to have our dream for a year-long internship position realized.

• HFO brought twenty-three kids to the ‘KAA Summer Camp,’ a week long Christian sports camp, instigating a new summer tradition. What a blast!

• Eight students traveled with us to the 9th Ward in New Orleans for the first ‘HFO Mission Trip’ to work, pray, and play with new friends.

• ‘Adventure Crew 2011’ canoed the Buffalo River and Heber Springs in Arkansas for forty miles of cliff diving and fishing adventures.

• And last, but not at all least, HFO purchased a second home next door to our current property to expand our after-school program, looking to double the amount of students we serve by 2013.

We share our joy with you—our supporters, mentors, and family—in these milestones and the restoration they bring. We are thankful to all of you who have walked with us these last four years and we are trusting to God’s loving provision to overwhelm our family, and yours, in 2012.

Peace!