The Park Children's Ministry

Oh the cheesy-ness of that line never ceases to amaze me... but in some cases, it's true. We want to HELP you guys raise all the funds that you need for your kid's camp, and two volunteers in Parkway CM have ways for you to do that.

Brenda Lee, a volunteer in the 1st-5th grade area of Children's Ministry for years now, is going to be hosting a few parties at her house that are sure to help your kids with fundraising opportunities for camp.

Here's the info from Brenda:
Location: My House (call/text or email for address)
Phone: 623 332 6080
email: ChurchChick3@yahoo.com

2 meetings are available for you to come to
Wednesday, January 26th @ 6:30pm
Saturday, January 29th @ 11am

Any parents are welcome to attend with or without their kids. However, only high schoolers may attend without their parents.
The first opportunity will be Party Lite. It seems really easy and very profitable! The kids sell from the "limited" list and they actually keep their 50% of the funds off the top. They do not send it in and wait for a rebate to return. So, if they start it the day they get the packet they could actually make all their needed funds and have it for the March 1st due date for camp.

If any parent needs help or wants ideas on how to raise individual funds for their child, have them call me! I like this stuff :)

Another volunteer, Chrissy Shero, has a way for you to raise funds too. Here's the info from Chrissy:
Fundraising Opportunity

Hi, my name is Chrissy Shero and I am a beauty consultant with Mary Kay. I know how expensive it is to send your child to camp, so this year I am donating some of my profits to you for your child to go to camp. 

Here is out it works:

If you host a skin care class I will donate 25% of my profit to your child to go to camp. My profit is 50%. So if you have a $600 party, my profit would be $300 so your child would then have $150 donated towards their camp fees. 

If you have a guest at your party who books a skin care class…they will get the same opportunity. If they do not have a child they are sending to camp, but still want to help you out then the profit from their party will be donated to your child as well. 

If you are interested in booking a skin care class please contact me at one of the following:

623-505-8697 Cell

chrissyls1006@yahoo.com

I look forward to helping you get your child to camp this year!

Chrissy Shero


So that's just TWO ideas for individual fundraisers to help with camp costs. If you need other ideas, you can contact Brian (brian@parkway.cc)

As far as Parkway fundraisers go, we have a LOT of stuff going on that I'm sure you want to be apart of. Remember, all the money raised with the following fundraisers goes to pay for the buses.

JANUARY 31st // GOLDEN SPOON (3pm-close)
Parkway staff will be at Golden Spoon serving up some fro-yo to anyone that comes in. Trent, Brian, Drew, myself, and Susan will be there, as well as others on staff. So come by and spend some time with us, eat some AMAZING frozen yogurt, and help our kids raise money to go to camp.

FEBRUARY 14th // VALENTINE'S DAY CHILDCARE (6-10pm)
Do you need someone to watch your kids on Valentine's day so that you can go out on a date? Bring them down to Parkway and we will watch them! Our middle school campers and middle school leaders will be here, ready and willing to watch your kids for you so that you can have a fun night out.

FEBRUARY 24th // PETER PIPER (time TBA)
Pizza, games, and family time- what could be better?! Head on over to Peter Piper Pizza, play some games, eat some pizza, and just have a good time.

We have lots of other fundraisers coming your way soon, so be on the lookout.... Barros pizza, Improv Night @ Parkway, Bunco (who doesn't love Bunco?) and my absolute FAVORITE place to eat (besides grandma's house) CHICK FIL A!!!!!!

Mmmm... so good... ANYWAYS! Make sure you come out to the fundraiser nights and support our Parkway Elementary and JR. High Campers.

by Charity


…time for toys and time for cheer…

Oh come on, you know you were singing that song too… you know, the Alvin and the Chipmunks song…it wasn’t just me… Right? .....… Well, stores are hanging their Christmas decorations, radio stations are playing Christmas music, houses are glowing with lights and ironically, as I type my Pandora account is playing “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…”

Here in CM, we are getting ready too! Rooms have been decorated, and plans for Christmas Sing are well under way… Here’s a few things you need to know as Christmas Sing is approaching.

Sun City sing has been canceled this year due to construction on their building… so don’t show up there this Sunday, or they will wonder what those tiny humans are doing. BUT we will hopefully be singing there in the Spring instead, so don’t be too sad! :)

Christmas Sing weekend is still on like Donkey Kong. We are going to sing on December 11/12 weekend. So get your kids in those cute little Christmas outfits that you love so much (and they don’t like at all) and come ready on that weekend.

Practice will be on Wednesday, December 8th from 6:30-7:30pm for ALL ages… make sure you are here that night, it will help the kids be more relaxed and comfortable on the weekend.

I think that’s pretty much it… :) I’ll post some pics real quick of the end result of our Christmas light decorations :) if you’re a CM volunteer, see you tonight at Brian’s!!

by Charity

Family time was a HUGE thing for me as a kid. My family loved to spend time together, and we did a lot of fun things growing up. My parents always made it a point to spend time with us individually, and for us to spend time as a whole family unit. We had Family Night at least once a week and we would play board games, wrestle with dad, roller-blade around the neighborhood, or just watch a movie.

I am young and unmarried [but only for a few more months :)] and I am not a parent, but I know how much having a night of the week that was spent with my family helped shape the person that I am today. So we here at the Park have decided to help make this a little bit easier for you. There are many opportunities coming up here at Parkway to spend time as a family....

During the month of November we are doing a Food Drive. You can make a list of non-perishable food items, then take the kids to the grocery store and let them each pick out something on the list to buy. Bring it to Parkway and put it in the Food Drive bins. Then, talk to your kids about line-of-sight, and what it means to help those in the community.

Christmas Sing weekend is going to be on December 11/12. Parents- we know how much you LOVE to watch your little babies up there on stage, being all cute :) Invite grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends to come and support your kids. Practice the moves as a family by clicking on the link on the side <------ that says "Christmas Sing" for more info. We will also be singing at Sun City West Christian Church on December 5th. Sign up today by shooting me an email! :)

January 7th, 2011 we will be having a Family Service Night. This is a night where you can show your kids by example what it means to serve. We will be making PB&J sandwiches for people in need. Bring the kids and have them help pack the lunches, or make a little card/note to put in the the bag and help make their day. Check out the Upcoming Events page for more info, or be looking for a flyer.

In February 2011, we will open up our Children's area for you and your kids to come and hang out. We will play a movie on the big screen in the auditorium, and have all the fun stuff in The Park open for you!! You can play board games, play basketball, rock out to Rock Band on the Big Screen, or climb the rock wall together. We want you to spend some time just having fun with your kids... The Cafe will also be open, and will be having a special menu- just for family night!

Vote for what you want on the menu at Family Night below!

Don't wait for Parkway to provide opportunities for you to hang out as a family. Talk to your kids about things they would like to do with you, trust me- they'll have PLENTY of ideas!

by Charity

Well, Phase Two is officially open, and man does it rock!! Phase One got a face-lift, and it looks great too!! I love everything about these wacky colored buildings that house the church (the people) of Parkway.

There is no way we could have pulled off this awesome new phase in ministry without the help of SOOO many volunteers. A lot of people pulled double shifts, worked in multiple ministries, and honestly just went above and beyond what we could have ever hoped for. And we have a few specific people that we'd like to thank...

Our Black Badge Leaders: These people have taken so much ownership in the Children's Ministry, and they really make the weekends happen. So, Chris Kwant, Amy Nygard, Scott Mathis, Max Christiansen, Beth Calder, Josh Hagan, Andrea Starr, Kristalee Clark, Kristie Fields, Nicole Endresen, Deanna Carpenter, Ambur Garcia, Donna Cook, Sienna Garrett, and Melissa Larsen.... THANK YOU!!!!

We also had people step up and help us come in and set up all different aspects of the Children's Ministry. Whether it was setting up classrooms, building rockers, putting batteries in toys, cleaning, or installing TV hooks; these guys really made sure that we were all ready to go: Liz Warner, Bob Serena, Heather Huston, Melissa McCormick, Kelly Hamilton, John Cross, Anthony Galto, Jeff Maze, Jonathon Huston, Colleen Donahue, Elexis Pacheco, Chris Lang, Bryan Olson, Brenda Lee, Brian Steckman, Arianna Keith, Joseph Keith, Terri Leach, Sophia Lake, and the entire Fields/Leach Small Group... THANK YOU!!!!

I also take the time to thank all the volunteers that come in on the weekend and serve. You guys have no idea the impact that you are making on the lives of the kids that you hang out with and build relationships with.... so THANK YOU!

We have had over 600 kids every weekend since we've moved... that's a whole lotta kids!!! Even with the amount of volunteers that we currently have, we still need more... If you are want to get involved on the weekend, email Brian (brian@parkway.cc) and he can give you all the info on all the areas that you want to know about :)

*wipes brow* PHEW! That was a lot to write about... I think I've been holding my breath this entire time too... I'm lucky I didn't pass out! :) Honestly though, I really am sooo proud to be apart of this team with you, the people of Parkway. You all blow me away with your willingness to rise to any challenge that comes your way. I couldn't think of a better team to be on. YOU MAKE ME PROUD! Let's keep up the good work guys... See you this weekend!!!

by Charity

We have a countdown going around the office, counting down the days until Phase Two's grand opening... It's so close! We started moving in furniture into the new building, it seems so surreal! We are all STOKED about this new building, and everything that comes along with it. I know that everyone else is just as excited as we are, too. It's an awesome time to be apart of this place called Parkway. We've got some big things coming up, so let me fill you in! :)

Phase Two: Volunteers
We have gotten a LOT of new volunteers, and it is so great that everyone is stepping up to serve. I love how the people of Parkway always respond to a need when they see it. We still have some pretty big holes, so if you aren't involved- GET PLUGGED IN!!! Somewhere, anywhere! We (the staff of Parkway) want you all to be serving in your sweet spot; we want you to be able to use your gifts/strengths and do something that you love. Contact brian@parkway.cc if you want to get involved.

Grand Opening Weekend
This is literally RIGHT around the corner, and we want to be as ready as we can be. We will be having a HUGE event to celebrate: complete with water slides, monster trucks, horse soccer, and the world's largest inflatable water slide. It's going to be SWEET!! We need some people to step up and help us run all the slides for the kids. We need about 100 people to serve for one hour in order to pull it off, and there are needs for all other kinds of volunteers too! If you want to man a bouncy, please contact Jim & Sherree Fischer (forwarddrive@parkway.cc) They will get you plugged in. If you want to volunteer in some other aspects of grand opening, contact Danielle Carroll (danielle@parkway.cc)

I think that's about all the things that I have to blog about... Keep up the great work Parkway peeps... You all make me so proud to be on the team with you! See you this weekend!!!!