Roseland Christian Ministries has their helping hands all over the Roseland Community and beyond. RCM is a women and children’s shelter providing 80 beds per night, a drop-in center providing meals for 290 people per day, a thrift store, a housing corporation, a church, etc, etc, etc. They offer big worthwhile programs that need big active supporters.

In recent years, RCM has noticed that their donor base is aging. Older faithful supporters have sustained RCM for over 30 years, but Director of Development Joe Huizenga and other leaders at RCM are taking active steps to ensure that a new generation steps up and carries the torch. RCM is recognizing that while an older generation faithfully responds to phone calls, newsletters and church visits asking for support, a younger generation of potential supporters is connecting to worthwhile causes in an almost entirely different way.

To that end, this past Thursday evening Cultivate Studios was pleased as punch to play host for the 2nd year in a row to a new Roseland Christian Ministries benefit event. This year’s event was entitled, Heat. Help. Home. It was a wonderful February evening of food, folks, film, fun, fundraising and…music. The premise was simple – convey how interesting and important RCM is to the community. Event committee members and Cultivate worked to make possible a celebration centered around the good work of RCM, rather than a long lesson and a passing of the offering plate for RCM. This event is one opportunity for RCM to involve and inspire supporters–a path to create active participants rather than passive donors.

In addition to our duties as hosts, Cultivate members provided some scenery for the evening. Chris Pierik created an incredible series of screenprinted posters to advertise and commemorate the evening. You can purchase the posters and more at www.welcome-press.com. I helped out by providing a little video testimonial that shared the story of Raphael and Jessica Beecham and how the RCM Homes Corporation helped them to purchase their first home. Mark Wierda snapped photos throughout the evening and even offered up a free photo shoot for the raffle – which I regrettably did not win. Imagine hiring your own boss to shoot whatever you want for 2 full hours.

To find out more about RCM or to offer your support, financial or otherwise, check out www.RoselandChristianMinistries.org.