ADRA supporter Doreen grew up on Saint Helena Island, a very small island in the Atlantic. One of the most isolated places in the world, the island has less than 5,000 habitants and is best known as the place where Napoleon Bonaparte spent his exile and eventually died.
The island was the kind of place where there was no homelessness and no families suffering from hunger, so moving to the United States was eye-opening for Doreen.
“When I came to the States, I saw a lot of things. I cried,” Doreen said. “The first thing I saw was someone living in a newspaper house in downtown Cleveland. That really made me cry because I had never seen anything like that.”
Doreen was raised to help others. Her mother, who recently passed away two weeks before her 98th birthday, lost her husband when Doreen was eight, but was a lifelong example of service to her children.
“I have always given. We were taught that from young to share, and that’s what I’ve been doing,” said Doreen. “I believe that the Lord will always place that desire in my heart until He comes or until I breathe my last breath.”
Shortly after moving to the United States, Doreen began hearing about ADRA through the church and in materials she received. She was excited to see how her church was serving real needs for people.
“My mind right away went back to that newspaper house,” she said.
One of the stories that stood out to her was about a woman who was left to care for her grandchildren after the rest of her family members died.
“It just touched my heart so much,” Doreen told us. “She said that she had one blanket, so she was covering her children with her skirt. I thought, ‘Wow, how much waste do I see? Some people have two, three or four blankets in their homes.’ This is why I just love contributing to ADRA.”
Doreen and her husband, Guy, have now been supporting ADRA for 25 years!
“The thing with ADRA is that they go and they stay there and help people know how to survive. They don’t just drop a truckload of stuff, or a planeload of stuff, and leave again. That’s what I really love about them,” said Doreen. “I have no concern or worry. Even if I don’t say what I donated for, when I call, I just love the staff. They’re just always so nice. They ask if I need prayer for anything.”
Doreen and Guy share their support as ADRA monthly donors, but we are grateful for every supporter who shares a donation, a prayer, or kind words for our ministry. Our work is only possible because of the blessings each of you share with us. “I believe that we are blessed to bless others,” Doreen tells us and we couldn’t agree more.
