New Year's Eve Weekend Meanderings
Our last day together in 2021. What a year, eh? What’s in the bag for 2022?
Photo by Isabela Kronemberger on Unsplas
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD-TV) — A new coffee shop in Kalamazoo is more than meets the eye. It’s an expansion of the vocational programming at KPEP, an organization that offers adult offenders an alternative to jail time.
One of the workers said it has helped her in more ways than one.
“I really want to encourage the students because I’ve been where they are and I know what they’re going through, but I also know there’s a better way,” said Jennifer Heath, a barista at Walnut & Park Coffee Shop on Ransom Street.
Heath is also a 2018 KPEP graduate.
“I was addicted to heroin and I was making really poor choices. I got a possession charge and got sentenced to KPEP,” said Heath.
KPEP puts adult offenders through an eight-week program focusing on either hospitality or learning a trade, helping them find jobs, housing and other options to get back on their feet.
“It’s huge. It’s really huge. Every day I’m thankful. It’s a constant reminder working with the students where I came from,” said Heath.
“We work on the front end to try and keep people from going to prison in the first place, so we’re sort of an alternative sentencing option, and then on the other side of the prison sentence we help people transition back to the community,” said William DeBoer, the president/CEO of KPEP.
Heath is now working as an instructor for the program.
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — A Durham teacher said with the help of donations from the community, she was able to buy $100,000 worth of groceries at Costco to help feed 5,000 students in Durham Public Schools through the holiday break.
On Wednesday afternoon, Turquoise Lejeune Parker, the teacher behind the “foodraiser,” was in the gym at Lakewood Elementary filling up paper bags with bread, mac & cheese, beans, and other groceries that she’ll be giving to all of the students at the school.
Parker said she and attorney T. Greg Doucette started collecting donations to purchase food for her students during the holidays back in 2015 when she was approached by a parent in need.
“This all started with one family, one family sent me a message in 2015,” Parker said. “This mom said we don’t have anything at all, I don’t have anything for my kids.”
That’s when Parker and her husband, Donald Parker, messaged everyone they knew and asked if they could help purchase or donate food for the 25 students in her class.
She said they were able to collect enough groceries so all her students could be fed through the holiday break.
Parker said they decided to do it again the following year, and they were able to feed even more children.
“We were able to feed the whole grade level, then two grade levels, then the whole school, and then three schools and it kept growing,” Parker said.
Parker said this year through the help of donations, they were able to raise more than $100,000 and feed all the students at 12 different schools in the district.
Why do women go to seminary?
The top three reasons women chose seminary were a powerful sense of God's calling, a ministry experience that confirmed their call, and a supportive family or church that affirmed their gifts. These women were not always confident. More often they were confused. Their calling didn't make sense to them. They wondered if they were being selfish by paying for an education that might not yield a job. I heard "Jonah" stories of women who spent years running from God's calling, and I heard "Abraham" stories of women who obeyed and went, even though they didn't know where they were going (Heb. 11:8). In the end, though, a strong sense of calling and support moved them to defy the statistics.
Beyond these three reasons, however, there was one motivation I didn't expect. One of the main reasons women go to seminary is the education itself. Christian women want to study the Bible, learn the languages, and better understand theology.
I know this shouldn't be surprising. Of course seminary students want to study the Bible. This motivation is normal and good for any Christian called to ministry. Yet, rigorous study of the Bible is not something we always associate with evangelical women. I know many women who confess to being intimidated by theology. Their feelings are often fueled by the type of resources aimed at Christian women, which can lean more toward self-help than deep scriptural study. There is a trend in women's ministry to be light on theology and biblical exegesis.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A mama black bear and three cubs clambered up a tree and napped in the middle of a Virginia neighborhood before voluntarily ambling on hours later, wildlife officials said Tuesday.
The four black bears left their lofty perch on aptly named Bruin Drive in the city of Chesapeake around midnight Monday, Chesapeake Animal Services announcedon Facebook.
Officials had asked residents near the tree to stay inside and blocked off the road from outside visitors in order to give the bears “space, quiet, and time.”
Police were first alerted to the bears about 2 a.m. Monday, The Virginian-Pilot reported.
Have corporate millennials had enough? Looks like some have.
The corporate millennials are not OK.
In a December TikTok video, user @thatcorporatelawyer slowly closes his laptop while lip-syncing Dirty Thoughts by singer Chloe Adams.
You hear: "I get dirty thoughts about you." You read on screen: "Corporate Millennials manifesting quitting their 9-5 and starting a new life."
The hashtag #corporatemillennial has more than 64 million views and gives a glimpse of an undercurrent rippling through a section of a group generally defined as having been born between 1981 and 1996. This particular batch of millennials is caught in a moment of redefining their relationship with their jobs.
And for some of them, the new definition means leaving their gigs altogether.
(NEXSTAR) – In 2020, Lego saw sales grow over 20% compared to 2019, with the year’s revenue reaching 43.7 billion Danish krone, equivalent to roughly $6.99 billion. Those kits could end up providing more than just entertainment for some.
A new study out of Moscow found discontinued Lego sets can have more value than stocks, bonds, gold, and other traditional investments like art. Researchers reviewed the prices of over 2,300 Lego sets from 1987 to 2015 and found that they appreciated in value by roughly 11% each year, outperforming “traditional” investments.
Two or three years after a Lego set is retired, researchers found the secondary market prices usually start to grow. Kits that are small and those that are very large grow faster in price compared to medium-sized ones. This, researchers believe, is due to small sets containing more unique parts or figures. For the larger kits, fewer are produced, making them harder to find.