Director’s Message,
One of my favorite Bible verses is Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (From the King James Version). Another favorite verse of mine comes from Matthew 17:20 where Jesus tells his disciples, who had not been able to ‘rebuke the devil’ that was in a child in order to cure that child. When his disciples asked Jesus why they had not been able to cure the child as Jesus had done, he said to them:
Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to unto you.
Testimony time, Dear Reader: On June 29, 2024, I had to use my faith in bold italics. It was the day of our African American Center’s Juneteenth Celebration. Starting at 6 in the morning, my sister, Lane, was cooking, by 9 o’clock, I was collecting the rolls and the snacks from Tops Friendly Market using Tops’ gifted (thank you Tops) gift card (we had bought the pop and water before, using that same card, and stored them in the fridge). Grateful thanks to my sister, Lane, for supplying all of the meat (hot dogs, hamburg, roast for pulled pork sandwiches and baby back ribs.) God bless you, Lane. Thanks to Jarrad, for donating all plates and napkins, beautiful. The tent, we rented, had been put up the day before in beautiful, calm, summer weather.
And then it came. It was no surprise. It had been forecasted. Downpour, teasing sometimes and then the sky would open the fire hydrant up there and down the rain would pound. Also forecasted, was a ‘nothing to play with’ thunder storm later that day’ but, we would have been finished by the time the storm was expected.
Here is the testimony: Since early in the morning, my phone had been blowing up by concerned people asking if we were still going to have the Celebration and I kept saying: “Yes, we are.”
Dear Reader, I never asked the Lord to stop the rain just for us. I knew someone, someplace needed it and that God knew that better than I. He only asked me to trust Him. And I did. And, we and everyone who came, had a grand time.
By the by, the storm never did come, in fact, in the middle of our event, the rain stopped, and the sun shone the rest of the day.
You can imagine how I am feeling. The Old Church Mothers used to say: “When you know, you know, you know.”
I simply listened to that Spirit He has put inside of my soul. We are so blessed, Amen?
Thank you for listening.
Love always,
Della
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The Center needs to be financially sustainable. We are about to open and have more enlightening programs and events that will bring in some much needed revenue, but to truly be on solid footing going forward, we need less spotty revenue coming in. To help us gain that solid footing, I am asking, I am praying for, at least 300 supporters of the Center to commit to continually donating $10.00 a month to the Center. This would be an ongoing donation support that the Center would be able to count on going forward. Believe me, it would help so much.
At the end of each year, I will send you a record of your donations. We are a 501 (c) 3 and as such, every donation anyone gives to the Center is Tax Deductible. We thank you in advance.
Donations can be sent to the African American Center for Cultural Development (The Center), PO Box 240, Olean, NY 14760 or to the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation at 201 N. Union St. #203, Olean, NY 14760 in support of the Center. Or you can click on the Donation Button below that goes directly to our account at the Foundation. Donations can also be made through Venmo, if you wish.
I will be charging for some of our events, in an effort to help, but our members and the 300 will be given a discount. And will be on our mailing list for alerts for upcoming events and news.
That’s all for now. Thank you for all your support. God bless you.
Gratefully,
Della
PS: Please take this opportunity to help the efforts of the Center by using the button below to contribute to the Center. Whatever you can donate will be greatly appreciated and much needed. Remember that we are a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization and every penny you donate to help us is tax deductible.
As always,
Della
Support The Center
The Center has established a fund at the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation to support our fundraising goals. You can donate to the fund to support the Center by using the button below.
