Two Shawnee charitable missions announced Wednesday that they will officially merge their organizations next week and that they will continue to work toward obtaining up to $1.2 million through a potential grant.
Shawnee Rescue Missions’ founder Melissa Blankenship and Labor of Love Charities’ founder Anthony Rocko made the decision to merge about one month ago and have been working together to meet their combined goals of helping the homeless and the poor in Shawnee.
“It’s going to be very big; it’s all happening so fast,” Blankenship said. “We have some really big people backing us.”
The City Rescue Mission in Oklahoma City — the largest homeless shelter in Oklahoma — is helping the merging organizations “walk through the process of growth we are experiencing,” Rocko said.
The growth includes donations of $10,000 in combined monetary contributions, half from anonymous donors, to complete the parking lot at the rescue mission’s new building and a truck donated by McLoud Wrecker for distributing food and other items to those in need around Shawnee.
The building is about half finished, with more funds needed to complete its construction, Blankenship said.
“It’s phenomenal to sit here and just see God work,” Rocko said. “I feel like a kid in a candy store, especially when I see the looks on the faces — not just the faces of the homeless but of the volunteers. It’s unreal. When this all started, I put it in God’s hands and just watched what He did with it. I’ve watched all these people coming together for a common goal.”
Shawnee Rescue Mission and Labor of Love Charities are moving toward securing the donation of an additional building for use as an overnight shelter and inner-city missions facility.
“We are moving forward on the day center and hoping to open a shelter as early as mid- to late- 2010,” Rocko said. “We’ll know more about these things in the weeks to come. It’s all very exciting.”
Blankenship said the merger and donations arrived in Shawnee in a timely manner.
“The need is increasing every day; it’s been growing a lot this year,” she said. “The problems are growing, they aren’t going away. There are moms and kids and families who are becoming homeless each day here in Shawnee. But the community needs to know we are dependent on Shawnee to help us with these problems now.”
The need is so great in Shawnee, Blankenship said, that in addition to City Rescue Mission other large groups, including Frontline Church and Feed the Children, also are providing assistance for the work to be done in Shawnee.
Frontline Church will sponsor the merging organizations’ fall park outreach, Homeless not Hopeless, scheduled for 1 p.m., Oct. 24 at Woodland Veterans Park.
“They’re paying for all of it,” Blankenship said.
Feed the Children will provide two trucks with food, clothing and other items, for the community-wide event.
“It’s a day not just for the homeless but for everyone in Shawnee,” Blankenship said. “It’s meant to bring awareness of these issues to the community and a speaker from City Rescue Mission will be there to help explain the homeless situation to visitors.”
Both Blankenship and Rocko said the community support, through donations and volunteerism, has helped their mission work tremendously, although the need for assistance continues in Shawnee.
They also said the work they have been doing, including Rocko’s weekly visits to the park to give hot dogs to the homeless, will not cease. Instead, new methods of helping others will be added to what they are already doing in the community.
For more information or to donate, call 831-6904 or 479-283-3933. Donations may also be mailed to Shawnee Rescue Mission, P.O. Box 25, Tecumseh, OK 74873.
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Two Shawnee charitable missions announced Wednesday that they will officially merge their organizations next week and that they will continue to work toward obtaining up to $1.2 million through a potential grant.
Shawnee Rescue Missions’ founder Melissa Blankenship and Labor of Love Charities’ founder Anthony Rocko made the decision to merge about one month ago and have been working together to meet their combined goals of helping the homeless and the poor in Shawnee.
“It’s going to be very big; it’s all happening so fast,” Blankenship said. “We have some really big people backing us.”
The City Rescue Mission in Oklahoma City — the largest homeless shelter in Oklahoma — is helping the merging organizations “walk through the process of growth we are experiencing,” Rocko said.
The growth includes donations of $10,000 in combined monetary contributions, half from anonymous donors, to complete the parking lot at the rescue mission’s new building and a truck donated by McLoud Wrecker for distributing food and other items to those in need around Shawnee.
The building is about half finished, with more funds needed to complete its construction, Blankenship said.
“It’s phenomenal to sit here and just see God work,” Rocko said. “I feel like a kid in a candy store, especially when I see the looks on the faces — not just the faces of the homeless but of the volunteers. It’s unreal. When this all started, I put it in God’s hands and just watched what He did with it. I’ve watched all these people coming together for a common goal.”
Shawnee Rescue Mission and Labor of Love Charities are moving toward securing the donation of an additional building for use as an overnight shelter and inner-city missions facility.
“We are moving forward on the day center and hoping to open a shelter as early as mid- to late- 2010,” Rocko said. “We’ll know more about these things in the weeks to come. It’s all very exciting.”
Blankenship said the merger and donations arrived in Shawnee in a timely manner.
“The need is increasing every day; it’s been growing a lot this year,” she said. “The problems are growing, they aren’t going away. There are moms and kids and families who are becoming homeless each day here in Shawnee. But the community needs to know we are dependent on Shawnee to help us with these problems now.”
The need is so great in Shawnee, Blankenship said, that in addition to City Rescue Mission other large groups, including Frontline Church and Feed the Children, also are providing assistance for the work to be done in Shawnee.
Frontline Church will sponsor the merging organizations’ fall park outreach, Homeless not Hopeless, scheduled for 1 p.m., Oct. 24 at Woodland Veterans Park.
“They’re paying for all of it,” Blankenship said.
Feed the Children will provide two trucks with food, clothing and other items, for the community-wide event.
“It’s a day not just for the homeless but for everyone in Shawnee,” Blankenship said. “It’s meant to bring awareness of these issues to the community and a speaker from City Rescue Mission will be there to help explain the homeless situation to visitors.”
Both Blankenship and Rocko said the community support, through donations and volunteerism, has helped their mission work tremendously, although the need for assistance continues in Shawnee.
They also said the work they have been doing, including Rocko’s weekly visits to the park to give hot dogs to the homeless, will not cease. Instead, new methods of helping others will be added to what they are already doing in the community.
For more information or to donate, call 831-6904 or 479-283-3933. Donations may also be mailed to Shawnee Rescue Mission, P.O. Box 25, Tecumseh, OK 74873.
