What We're Up To in California
Here are some ways to get involved with Children of the Nations (COTN) in Southern California!
Resource Gathering:
COTN SmilePack® "Round Up"
Help us gather SmilePacks® for our children!
Does your small group, office or neighborhood want to help us with a meaningful project?
Learn how to create much needed SmilePacks® today! Click here for more information.
Drop-off location:
Children of the Nations – Southwest Regional Office
2861 Walnut Ave
Tustin, CA
(949) 212-4621
Meal Packaging:
Our new Meal Packaging Center (MPC) is OPEN!
If you would like to host or join a meal packaging event, contact Sara Booth at 949-212-4621 or sarabooth@cotni.org.
1 MILLION MEAL MARATHON
Sunday, May 1st
Our first Million Meal Marathon was a success! Read about it here.
What's happening in San Diego
Stay tuned for updates from San Diego
Visit our News page for the latest updates on what we're up to in Southern California and elsewhere.
Real Life Church in Valencia Packages 100,000 Meals
On Sunday, September 5, 2010, Real Life Church in Valencia, California (www.reallifechurch.org) held a "Labor Day" of service. When people showed up to attend one of three church services, little did they know they were about to embark on a day of service toward others. Brandon Beard, Life Groups Pastor and orchestrator of this grand plan, had a color coded schematic of the auditorium showing where each group of volunteers was to serve. COTN was assigned over 360 people during each service to package 100k meals in four hours. The five COTN stations included meal packaging tables (twenty), pallet loading, letter writing, box decoration, and prayer.
It was 105 degrees in Valencia the previous day. As the event was outdoors, we prayed for cooler weather and were blessed with 95 degrees! Over 3,000 people total participated in the day.
Real Life attendees are committed body and soul to serving children of COTN and many other ministries. They are truly salt and light to their community. Other activities that Sunday included painting schools, planting trees, serving local seniors, and donating blood. Brandon Beard (formerly in youth group led by COTN founder Chris Clark) is a modern day Christian soldier. He is marching RLC down the path of service as Jesus commanded and we are proud to walk beside this extraordinary group of people.
COTN Does Vacation Bible School at Presbyterian Church of the Masters
From July 19 – 23, 2010 Presbyterian Church of the Masters(PCOM) invited COTN to participate in their Vacation Bible School, themed “Galactic Blast!” Taking the theme and running with it, Sara Booth, COTN–USA Orange County Coordinator created activities to share our message with children at VBS. To catch the children’s attention, Sara started with video clips from Google Earth that took children from their PCOM campus all the way to Malawi in a space ship. Sara, dressed in safari-style clothes, gave presentations to the children as “Missionary Sara,” with an accent that entertained the campers.
Along with summer volunteers Kendall and Valerie Gilmore, our Orange County team set up food packaging tables in the courtyard, and children packaged food for ten minutes at a time. A particularly mature fourth grade boy boldly walked up to the lentil station, and before receiving any direction he began telling his fellow campers how it was done. When the staff asked the boy how he knew this, he proudly replied, “This is my fifth meal packaging event. I LOVE these things! I know the drill!” Campers packaged 1,728 meals total during their time together.
Each day, the children brought in small donations for COTN, raising over $1,200. They even helped spread the message of COTN to their parents, presenting a skit at an open house on July 22, with over 800 children and parents in attendance. The skit showed the children marching into the sanctuary, chanting “lentils, spice, chicken, rice,” and demonstrated how easy it is to package food and make a difference for our children. “The enthusiasm and excitement carried over from the morning to the evening,” says Sara, “and the parents were exposed to COTN in a very positive manner.”
Interested in getting involved with COTN in California? Please contact Bob Palocsay, Community Relations Manager California, at bobpalocsay@cotni.org or 949-322-9041.