A School with Heart
By Hannah Rodgers
Haven of Rest is very blessed to have tremendous support from Akron and the surrounding communities. Groups from all different backgrounds and of all different ages serve men, women and children in need at the Mission. Recently Haven of Rest has had interactions with many local schools. Some do district or school-wide fundraisers, some come in to volunteer their time, and others come for tours of our three-building campus. One of these schools is The Lippman School.
A few weeks ago I traveled to The Lippman School on White Pond Drive here in Akron. This grade school adopted Haven of Rest Ministries in their effort to give back to the Akron community. They collected clothes, diapers, personal care items, and canned food. The children also colored cards of encouragement and placemats for our clients (see photos). They did a great job; their students collected 437 lbs. of donations! Thank you Lippman School for a job well done!
The school is named for Mr. Jerry Lippman who was the founder of GoJo Industries. In talking with Rev. Ben Walker, our Executive Director Retired, he shared with me that Mr. Lippman and others used to come and volunteer at Haven of Rest on Christmas Day to allow some of our Christian staff to be able to have the day off to celebrate with their families. Mr. Lippman exemplified caring and generosity to others, which is certainly passed down to the children and staff of the school now!
I’m happy to say that the Head of School, Mr. Sam Chestnut, has agreed to come visit Haven of Rest Ministries to find out more about what we do and how we can continue to build on this relationship. We look forward to growing in our relationship with these wonderful friends of Haven of Rest. Thank you Mr. Chestnut, Sarah Hurd, students, and all those involved in organizing and helping with this effort.
Thank you so much to all the schools and groups who have a heart for the Mission. We are blessed by each of you and we ask God to bless you abundantly in return!
