We are so thankful for supporters like you who donated and volunteered with the Mission this Easter season. This week, we had our Easter banquets for guests experiencing homelessness in Fort Collins (144 meals served) and for New Life Program participants at Harvest Farm (70 meals served).

Every year, this special celebration is a way that we take a moment to pause and celebrate an important spiritual holiday with our guests. We even have volunteers who washed the feet of our guests (if they are interested of course). It’s an intimate and humbling experience, and our volunteers do such an amazing job connecting with and encouraging our guests. 

As we celebrate Easter, I encourage you to reflect on how Jesus served those in need, how he listened to and restored the broken. It is his resurrection that we celebrate on Easter Sunday, bringing hope to all the work we do at the Mission. Together with supporters like you, we meet basic needs, feed neighbors in need in our city and even wash the feet of what some may call “the least of these.” 

Jesus said whatever we do for the “least of these” we do for him (Matthew Chapter 25), and so we serve, we lift up, and we encourage our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness to take the next step toward a new life. 

For our guests like Deed—featured in this month’s Changing Lives newsletter—his journey of hope and renewal started with finding resources at Fort Collins Rescue Mission. “This place gave me stability,” he says. “It gave me direction. I have clothes on my back, and a chance to get back on my feet. It has given me the time and support to do that. It’s the most important thing, because I want to be back on my feet, and I couldn’t do it on my own.” 

This work happens only because supporters like YOU believe in helping “the least,” the lost, and the broken that society typically casts aside. 

I hope Deed’s story inspires you this Easter season. Thank you for being an essential part of his journey and the journey of so many others. Your generous support is ending homelessness in our city and across the front range, one life at a time. 

I hope you have a wonderful Easter. He is Risen indeed!

—

Dennis Van Kampen
President/CEO