The Christian Students United Group of GCC came out tonight with Care-A-Van Ministries for our monthly visit to the college dorms. Pictured above is Jason and Charles f rom the CSU group with Sonara, who is a member of the GCC Cougars Women Basketball team.

We knocked on all 95 dorm rooms and offered cookies and prayer. Sonara's prayer request was that the team do well on their upcoming game this Saturday.

All students in the rooms were also given a personal invitation to attend the weekly meetings that the Christian Students United group has every Tuesday at 12:30 in room T122. This is a great time to share pizza and fellowship together.

There were many prayer requests this evening. The students are very thankful for the monthly visits , prayers and treats.

A special thanks to Jason, Alan and Charles from CSU for coming out with us tonight.

Go lady Cougars! Good luck Saturday!

  Paul Ohlson, Founder of Care-A-Van and Robin Walters, PR Director gather with the scouts.

The Cub Scout Pack 17 of Elba held a local "fun" raiser this evening at the Elba Firemans Recreation Hall.  Local families were entertained by Jeff Musial and Nickel City Reptiles and Exotics. The admissison was a non perishable food item.

The scouts combined this evening's food  admissions with their local Scouting for Food drive. All donations were then presented to Care-A-Van Ministries to help feed the local people. They also held a 50/50 and presented the proceeds to Care-A-Van.

My understanding is that over the summer the scouts had raised funds that they used to be able to present this fun evening to all families at no charge.

We thank Cub Master Chris Chadbourne scouts and their leaders and all those families that donated to help feed the local families that are in need. You truly have blessed many!

This young man was brave!

There was quite a crowd!

Packing the food up

Putting it on the bus

This young scout helped load the bus as well

Kids enjoy time on the bus.

Thanks again and more photos of this event can be seen on our Facebook!

Come join us there! 

These young volunteers were kept busy sorting the jeans

 Recently, the Elba School students helped clothe others with their jeans.

Christine Bucceri and students of the Elba school got together to help and bless others. At a recent school dance instead of the normal admission fee to get in,the students were asked to bring a pair of jeans for admission.

They then delivered the jeans to Care-A-Van Ministsries to bless others that may be in need. I will say it was a huge pile! There had to be over 100 pair of jeans if not more.

A special thanks to Christine and the students at the school for this wonderful donation to the ministry. Those that received the jeans were very appreciative.

What a wonderful creative way to help others!

It was a day of giving thanks this past Saturday when Care-A-Van was on Central Avenue for Grocery Distribution.  It was one of our busiest days at this location!

We saw over 47 families with a total of 121 family members that were in need of food.

Two young seniors from Kane Area High School in Kane PA, Marissa Walters and Natalee Anderson  were volunteering with us today. They had a thankful box that they used to encourage those in need to share what they were thankful for and any prayer requests they had.  At the end of they day , Elder Ron prayed over the requests. Pictured above is the team and some residents of the neighborhood. We always  pray before leaving a neighorhood.

Pastor Werk of St Paul Lutheran with local kids

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE CROSS HOUSE CHURCH PRESENTS:

LIGHT THE NIGHT

OCTOBER 31ST

WHILE YOU ARE TRICK OR TREATING STOP BY AT 17 WEST AVENUE IN ELBA

FOR FREE CANDY, SNACKS, SOUP, CHILI, APPLE CIDER AND MUSIC

SEE PASTOR MIKE DRESSED AS A MEDIEVAL KNIGHT!

ALL ARE WELCOME!

Michelle and her children

Psalm 19-21 NIV

But you, O LORD, be not far off;
       O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

20 Deliver my life from the sword,
       my precious life from the power of the dogs.

21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
       save  me from the horns of the wild oxen

Meet Precious; yes this young pup’s name is Precious. Precious was with us this past Saturday at Central Avenue for Saturday morning grocery distribution and prayer time.

Paul Ohlson, Founder of Care-A-Van Ministries with James Rosenbeck , 2009 Kidney Walk -Genesee County Event Chair

Ok, so he was a good sport about allowing this PR director to take his picture.

Local Detective Richard Schauf was out on Sunday afternoon particpating in the National Kidney Foundation Kidney walk that was held at Genesee County Park.

Friends of the foundation, gave him his very own birthday cupcake.

Detective Schauf is a great supporter of Care-A-Van Ministries. In his spare time, you can find him volunteering with the ministry  to help meet the needs of others. I said to him as I went to snap his photo "you  know I do blog online for the Batavian" he just smiled and allowed me to snap away. Happy Birthday Detective!

Detective Schauf and Pastor Mark Perkins on a recent outing with Care-A-Van

Meet Cuddles. Cuddles was out in the midsts of the hub of activity this past Saturday morning for Care-A-Van grocery distribution.

We heard of many dog gone it moments- dog gone it I lost my job, dog gone it I was beaten by my husband, dog gone I need to find an affordable apartment for my family, dog gone it I lost my home to a fire a few months back and the dog gone moments kept rolling for the 2 hours Care-A-Van Ministries was on State street for grocery distribution.

It was a very  busy morning as there were 51 families with 148 family members that arrived for groceries, clothing and prayer.

There were many new families that arrived for help. The stories of the events that are happening in their lives makes one heart ache.

There are moments when out in the midst of it all, and the line keeps growing and the needs are shared, one's spirit can get weak. However,  there is hope and there is peace. The peace and hope comes from knowing that the Lord will continue to provide.

A special thanks to all of you for your encouragement, your support and for your willingness to go forth and make a difference in those "dog gone" moments for those living right here in Batavia.

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Ok, so this PR Director of Care-A-Van Ministries  has got to confess, she was so excited when she heard "Gopher" from the Love Boat was going to be at GCC.

I use to love Gopher on the Love Boat Show. It was a true pleasure getting to hear "Gopher" , Fred Grandy speak at the Sixth Annual Wolcott J. Humphrey III Symposium on Leadership and Community LIfe.  The title of his message was "The Art of Change".  Talk about change in one life, to hear of his life from Hollywood Acting, to being a member of US Congress, to the former CEO of Goodwill to having his own radio show was unbelievable.

The theatre was packed this evening. After the presentation, there was a reception held in the Forum area. This reception gave the companies , agencies and students from GCC an opportunity to mingle and get to know one another.

Sitting at our table was the Dean of Elim Bible Institute, Harry Vellekoop and Pastor Phil from the World Life Christian Fellowship of Henrietta.   It was just amazing how even getting to network with these gentlemen was a blessing. Paul Ohlson, Founder of Care-A-Van  enjoyed sharing of the minstry with them and offering to partner with them in any way that we could to help them with their missions of meeting the needs of others.

We at Care-A-Van know that times are changing and the needs within the community are changing. We are forever grateful for the partnering of agencies, churches and individuals that help with the misssion of serving those in need.

A special thank you to all who planned this wonderful event for the community.

Care-A-Van Band opens up for Worship

The Fellowship of the Cross, a home church of Elba joined Care-A-Van ministries for street church today in Batavia. Pastor Mike Welch and members of his congregation came out to provide music and the message.

It was an awesome fall day on the streets today.  Pastor Mike gave an awesome message of how much Jesus loves each one of us.

Care-A-Van would like to thank Pastor Mike and the members of his congregatioin for sharing of their time and talents this past week for the cookout and street church.  A special thanks also to all the individuals who have donated of their time for the Care-A-Van Band this past summer.

There was quite the tug of war going on at the weekly cookout for Care-A-Van this evening. Pictured above is Pastor Mike Welch of the Fellowship of the Cross of Elba.

Pastor Mike and a few of his congregation members came out tonight to lend a helping hand for our weekly cookout at Edwards Street. We will be returning there on Sunday at 2:30 PM for Street church when Pastor Mike will be delivering the message.

This Saturday, Care-A-Van will be at 193 South Main Street Apartment Complex for grocery distribution.

We are thankful this was a fun tug of war. As we all know, many folks have their personal tugs of war going on in their lives. Care-A-Van goes forth to bring encouragment,, prayer,  hope and food to those in need.

Thank you to all of you for your continued support and encouragement.

God Bless and as we say at Care-A-Van

Keep the Light On!

This past Saturday was a busy morning for Care-A-Van. We were on Central Avenue where 44 families with a total of 124 family members received groceries.

Pictured above is Bruce Eaton and Bea McManis. Bruce is from the Clarence United Methodist church. Their congregation blessed the people of the streets with back to school clothes, shoes and toiletries.

Bea answered our call for help and came out and volunteered. Thank you Bea!

Thank you to all of you who continue to go forth and partner with Care-A-Van to make a difference in the lives of the people here in Batavia.

It was found out Saturday evening that the Genesee Cougars Men's Basketball team has a new star player. Sign him up folks, Batavia's own Paul Ohlson, founder of Care-A-Van Ministries! It seemed Pastor Dale Gooch of the Emmanuel Baptist church was negotiating the deal.

I just could not resist sharing this breaking news! Ok, well maybe it is just his dream,, to be a star basketball player  but the reality of it all is that the vision of Care-A-Van Ministries is strong and truly is a key player in bringing hope and encouragement to all.

Ok, to set the record straight, it was not your typical party that was happening on Thorpe Avenue tonight. No it was a party of fun, hope and encouragement. It was the Care-A-Van Ministries weekly cookout.  The Care-A-Van band was rocking the neighborhood with their lively music.

We got busted by our own editor of the Batavian, Howard Owens and his friendly watchdog (Howard forgive me, I could not remember how to spell his name!)

Howard being the awesome editor and reporter was out for a walk and thought he would stop by and see what all the commotion was about. It was great meeting Howard face to face, after all of these months of blogging on his online newspaper.

Care-A-Van served dinner to approximately 50 folks tonight. Of course the kids loved the ice cream cones! We are happy to report that the best part of the night was when 4 people received salvation tonight, by asking Jesus into their hearts !

We go forth to not only bring them physical food, but spiritual food as well. We let them all know that God has a plan for them,  a plan to prosper them not harm them, a plan to give them a future and a hope.

Thanks Howard for stopping by! It was great meeting you and being able to give you a tour of the bus and to share of the ministry with you.

We will be returning to Thorpe Avenue on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 PMfor a street church service.  Our own Mike Grasso of the Assembly of God will be giving the message.

Little Briana even joined in for singing with the band:

This Saturday, September 12th, Care-A-Van will be heading to GCC for their Annual Fall Cookout.

The cookout will be held at the Dorms Parking lot beginning at 4:00 PM until ?.

The cookout will inlcude hot dogs, hamburgs, salads, baked beans, pickles, chips, pop and ice cream cones. The Care-A-Van band will provide music while the students enjoy their food.

All Students are invited to bring their friends  and have a good time.

On Sunday, September 13th we will return at 4:30 for a church service beginning at 4:30 PM. Pastor Dale Gooch from the Emmanuel Baptist Church will bring the message.

During the school year, Care-A-Van visits the dorms on a monthly basis. We knock on 95 dorm rooms and bring them a treat, along with words of encouragement and prayer if needed.  Over the years, we have had the opportunity to build relationships with these students. They look forward to our monthly visits and the little suprise package that we bring them.

If there is any organization or church that would like to partner with us and join in on our monthly visits to the dorms, please contact us at 343-0328.  This is a great outreach opportunity for the community.

May God Bless all the students for the new school year!

While walking around Labor Daze in Oakfield this evening, I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting so many great people. Everyone was having a great time whether they were partaking of the delicous food or listening and dancing to the great music!

I got to tell you, this PR director of Care-A-Van Ministries really did enjoy the band tonight!  The parade was awesome. I was suprised for such a small town how big the parade was.  Great job to all for an awesome week-end!

This gang was having a great time selling glow sticks

This young fella sure had big muscles to carry around the stick filled with bags of cotton candy for folks to enjoy

The Crowd was on their feet with the  music!

Miranda, Lilly,and Addie Brown and Chase Peck had a super time!

Awesome job and thank you to all who made Labor Daze a great place of fun and fellowship!

  While visiting Labor Daze in Oakfield, this PR director of Care-A-Van Ministries had the best lemondade ever.

This delicious  cup of lemondade was found at Alex's Lemonade Stand which was located right in the hub of the activity

What was even better, was that the stand was by donations only which went to a wonderful cause, This cause being to raise funds for childhood cancer.

Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation is a unique foundation that has evolved from a young cancer patient's front yard lemonade stand to a nationwide fundraising movement for childhood cancer. Since Alexandra "Alex" Scott (1996-2004) set up her front yard stand, more than $ 12 million has been raised for childhood cancer by Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation.

I had the pleasure of meeting Megan Williams and her husband Matt. Their young son Brady had been diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a rare pediatric cancer.

The community really rallied around the family and the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation to make a difference in Fighting Childhood Cancer One Cup At a time.

You can read all about Brady's and his family journey at http://stepsforbrady.blogspot.com/

Kathy Hamm and Megan Williams still smiling after a long day. When reading Brady's blog tonight, as of yesterday, not including today, this effort had raised $ 800.00!

It is wonderful to see how a community can rally together to make a difference in the lives of others!