SAVING GRACE MINISTRIES’ NEEDS
Acceptable new items:
dental care
shampoo/conditioner
bar soap/body wash
deodorant
feminine hygiene
travel/hotel toiletries
shaving creams/razors
laundry detergent
fabric softener
paper towels
napkins
toilet paper
tissues
paper plates/cups
nonperishable food
in cans/boxes
Often what happens to us early in life shapes our values for the future. Julie Caldwell of Springboro recalls a phase when she was a single teenage mom and low on resources.
“I can remember one time looking at the low balance in my checkbook, just pennies in my purse, and no money for diapers,” Caldwell said. “So I know that desperate feeling of not having enough to get by. Every family should have the basics.”
The wife and mother of three knows the value of grocery items, especially toiletries. She’s been an avid couponer for the past four years and estimates she saves 50 percent on her grocery bill every month with savvy spending habits. She was reminded of this talent last fall when she was reading her Bible, and came across this verse:
1 Peter 4:10
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received
to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace
in its various forms.”
“Finance is my background, and I knew my gift was numbers,” said Caldwell, who works as a treasurer for an environmental consulting company. “About three months later I was watching ‘Extreme Couponing’ with my daughter, and they featured a lady who used her coupons to start a community food pantry. I thought, ‘Wow, I could do something like that.’ ”
That something turned out to be Saving Grace Ministry, a charity she began this year with the help of three friends: Krissy Cordrey and Michelle Yost, Springboro residents, and Stephanie McMillan of Miamisburg.
“I wanted to focus more on the toiletries, the laundry detergents, the body wash, because there seem to be more food pantries,” Caldwell said. “As I had been stockpiling items over the past few years, my husband finally said to me, ‘We really don’t need 47 tubes of toothpaste.’ ”
Those tubes of toothpaste, plus paper and hygienic needs are now lining the shelves in extra space above Cordrey’s shop in Centerville. Cordrey used to work with women coming out of recovery to get back into the work force. This year she knew of a family in need, and with that donation, the Saving Grace Ministry had begun. It works like a food pantry, with more of a focus on toiletries.
So far, the charitable organization has helped tornado victims in Kentucky, a few refugee families through a social services agency and helped to stock some school clinics.
There are five ways that interested people can get involved with this ministry: 1) collect and donate coupons or needed items, 2) join their shopping team, 3) volunteer time to cut/sort coupons, 4) view current needs through the organization’s Facebook page or blog spot, and 5) indicate those who are in need.
“By using the skills and tools of couponing, we are able to provide necessary items for those in need, at little or no cost. This allows us to use the gifts that God has given us, and to serve the Lord by giving back to the community,” said Caldwell, who is the senior member of a Mom’s Group at SouthBrook Christian Church, and participates in Bible studies. “By saving money, we are able to be the hands and feet of Jesus, serving those in need.”
As the women have other jobs and families to take care of, they would prefer not to have items dropped off without an appointment. Contact Saving Grace Ministry by e-mailing julie@savinggraceteam.org, by going online to savinggraceteam.blogspot.com or by searching Facebook for Saving Grace Ministry.
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