KINGSBURG – To help the victims of hurricanes Helene and Milton, New Life Ministries in Kingsburg made the decision to convert its annual Fall Festival into a fundraiser, with the goal of raising $10,000 for hurricane relief.
The free event will be held at Memorial Park on Oct. 20, 2024 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Karen Garcia, who sits on the church’s ladies board, said the idea came from Pastor Lori Querin. Lori is co-pastor at the church with her husband Pete. The Querins have been at the head of the church for 28 years.
“We got a text (from Lori) at 9:30 at night less than a week ago,” said Garcia. “Her first thought was, ‘Let’s cancel and take the money we would have spent and donate it.’ But we had to pay some of the vendors anyway, so we wouldn’t have been able to give as much money.”
Garcia said the church spends between $4,000 and $5,000 on the event. This will be the fourth year the church hosted the event. She said about 850 people attended last year’s Fall Festival.
New Life is not a megachurch. Garcia said it has between 200 and 250 parishioners.
“Just very homey, earthy,” she said. “A lot of people will send their misfits to our church,” she added laughing.
She said, “You can be whoever you are and walk into our building.”
WE’RE COMMUNITY
Garcia said despite the fact the victims are thousands of miles away, they are still neighbors.
“We’re community,” she said. “They are still our community. There isn’t a lot of advertising about how terrible it is back there, but it really, really is. Pastor Lori was very troubled and she asked Pastor Pete and he said, ‘You do what you want to do.’ So, we decided to turn it into something the community could get involved in.”
The latest estimates rank Helene and Milton, in terms of devastation, with hurricanes Karina, Sandy and Harvey. It is estimated that Helene and Milton caused approximately $50 billion in damages each. Worse, authorities say 95% of individuals who were slammed by Helene were not insured. Over 230 people were killed across six states.
Garcia said New Life will donate all the money from the fundraiser to the charity Samaritan’s Purse.
“Samaritan’s Purse is amazing,” she said. “They’re there, hitting the ground. They’ve got ground hospitals. They have people working day and night. Ministering to people. They’re not only meeting their physical needs but their spiritual needs as well.”
Garcia said every donation is appreciated. And she wanted people to know the event will still be low-key.
“We are not pushing it (donations),” she said. “But we want to give people the opportunity to help. Sometimes you don’t know what to do. Five dollars is five dollars.”
She added, “The people who come to the event may not give a lot. It doesn’t matter. Every little bit helps. We set a goal of $10,000. The church donated $1,000 to that.”
The event is free. Music will be provided by the Rocky Rock Band. There will be train rides provided by All Aboard Trains. Bouncing off the Walls will have bounce houses for the kids (and kids at heart).
There will also be:
- Face painting;
- Popcorn and cotton candy;
- Cupcakes – lots of cupcakes;
- A corn hole tournament for the first 24 to register; and
- Free hotdogs and potato chips –while they last.
Garcia said Samaritan’s Purse accepts credit and debit cards and PayPal – but not Venmo. There will be QR codes posted throughout the fundraiser containing information on how to donate.
