If you missed the Amazing Challenge, here is a quick highlight video that you can check out!! Thanks again for making this event a huge success.
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AND THE WINNER IS…… CROSSFIT REHOBOTH Jessica and Chris Beebe!!!! Jessica and Chris flew through the Amazing Challenge on Saturday to break all anticipated records for reaching the finish line. Pictured above is Pastor Kim Tepabock, chairperson of UNITE SUSSEX with Chris and Jessica. Jessica and Chris are a living advertisement for their fitness center. They pushed and pulled and were so focused. They are the ones to beat next year!
Thanks to everyone who helped make this Amazing Challenge a huge success. Keep an eye out for some more pictures and videos of the race.
Here is a video that was produced to show at local churches concerning Unite Sussex and The Amazing Challenge. Feel free to share this video to help spread the word!
There is still time to sign your team up for the Amazing Challenge. Contact us today!!
As is the case with all non-profit organizations, raising funds is a major part of our life. We have found a way to help make it extremely easy to give your support to helping Unite Sussex achieve success in its mission.
You will begin seeing this donate button throughout the website and on Unite Sussex correspondance. We would encourage you to show your support by donating via this simple process. We would also appreciate your help in spreading the word about the online donate button. We hope to have available links and widgets soon for you to post on your own site s and blogs.
Thanks so very much! Don’t forget to check out the Amazing Challenge coming up on October 9th.
All you competitive, giving people—watch out—the teams are beginning to organize for Sussex County’s first annual Amazing Challenge, sponsored by UNITE SUSSEX. Based on the hit television reality show, the Amazing Race, The Amazing Challenge will be a home grown, Sussex County event that pits teams of two against each other in a competition of physical dexterity, courage, and brains. The Amazing Challenge will take place on October 9, 2010 and will focus on Dewey, Rehoboth and Lewes—for starters.
The Amazing Challenge’s teams can be made up of anyone—brothers, sisters, friends, family, loved ones or employees. One of UNITE SUSSEX’s partners is the Dagsboro Church of God (DCOG), and they are leading the way to team creation. Their staff is deciding who will be on what team, and they are beginning to compete within each other to win the bragging rights to next year’s race. DCOG’s head pastor is Kim Tephabock, who is also the chair of UNITE SUSSEX. According to Tephabock, “one of the main goals of UNITE SUSSEX is to bridge the gap between faith based organizations, (such as DCOG) and the government, other non-profits and individuals. “In organizing the Amazing Challenge we thought that including small businesses and large employees in the challenge would make it that much more interesting. For me, just the mention of the Amazing Challenge put my employees on the fast track to team development. Our youth pastor, our Hispanic Pastor….others, are all working together to form the strongest team possible. They took on the challenge right away and I’m so proud that they are committed to UNITE SUSSEX’s goals and dreams”.
Tephabock is encouraging other businesses and non profits to do what he did—which is to encourage his employees and church members to challenge each other, all in the name of fun and charity. “This is a great motivational tool for my congregation and staff”, said Businesses and individuals may become sponsors and many of the levels of giving include a team. For employer sponsors, a team will help build workplace moral, develop unity, and will use your resources effectively. Plus its fun and for charity. “This is a great opportunity”, said Tephabock.
For more information on UNITE SUSSEX and the Amazing Challenge, please contact Lynne Maloy at
unitesussex@hotmail.com or 302-752-6225.
Also, click on “The Amazing Challenge” tab at the top of the page.
Below is a recent press release from Sussex County. This is a great step forward and Unite Sussex will be working with the county and other groups to help make these homes available to those who need them. Take a moment to read through the release and spread the word! You can also view the press release online here.
Sussex County offers use of vacant County-owned houses to Habitat for Humanity
Two empty houses waiting for a date with the wrecking ball will instead find new life as temporary housing for those in need.
County Council, at its Tuesday, March 30, 2010, meeting, approved a proposal to lend the use of two vacant houses owned by the County to Sussex County Habitat for Humanity. Sussex Habitat, in turn, will renovate both properties and use them as temporary residences – one as a transitional home for families waiting to move into their new Habitat-built houses, the other as quarters for AmeriCorps volunteers constructing Habitat homes in the county.
“It would appear that the committee has made a wise choice in meeting the goals of the request for proposals,” County Council President Vance C. Phillips said. “Ideally this is the beginning of a healthy public-private partnering process that will lead to more opportunities for the County Council to help those in need, without creating a burden on the taxpayer.”
In January, Sussex County issued a request for proposals from organizations interested in using three vacant County-owned homes as a means to provide decent, affordable housing for those in need.
Sussex County Habitat for Humanity was among six qualified applicants that were reviewed and then ranked by a committee comprising members of the County Council, County staff, the County attorney, and community volunteers.
Habitat for Humanity’s proposal was scored the highest, in part, because of the non-profit organization’s proven record, financial stability, and proposal to renovate the homes at no expense to the County, said Gina A. Jennings, director of the County’s Accounting division and one of the members of the committee.
The houses, all located near the Sussex County Airport near Georgetown and purchased as part of a planned runway expansion project, are eventually slated for demolition or removal. However, the properties were expected to remain vacant for several years as the runway project progresses, and County leaders wanted to find an interim use for the houses that could benefit a local organization and the community at large.
“These houses were just sitting there, some might say going to waste,” said Brandy A. Bennett, Sussex County’s housing coordinator. “We didn’t want that to be the case. We’d rather be a part of the solution when it comes to providing affordable housing for our residents.
“This proposal is a perfect fit with our goal. Habitat’s plan to revitalize these properties will help further stabilize the community, and it will help put honest, hard-working people in homes of their own,” Ms. Bennett said.
Sussex County will retain ownership of the pair of one-story houses Sussex Habitat will use. Habitat for Humanity, though, will be responsible for all upkeep, maintenance and utilities. Final details will be worked out in a contract lease agreement to be drafted in the coming weeks.
Meantime, County officials will further evaluate possible uses of the third house that was not part of Sussex Habitat’s proposal. Sussex County anticipates Sussex Habitat to begin using the two houses sometime this summer or fall.
We are so excited! Unite Sussex is in the running again this month for a $25,000 grant. The grant is being offered through Pepsi. The best way to explain the contest is to compare it to American Idol. We submitted our request for the grant and then Pepsi reviewed the thousands of requests and picked our community project as one of the worthy causes. We have a short time, only one month to be in the top 10 organizations voted for to receive the grant. There are over 1000 organizations in the running and we are currently low 100’s. In order to win, we need you to VOTE us to the top 10. Vote every day until March 31st. 25K if won, will go to improving a local community park, summer children’s program, and homelessness. Just a small part of the big picture for Unite Sussex.
Help us and do your part and vote: www.refresheverything.com/unitesussex
How to vote:
The Pepsi website is www.refresheverything.com/unitesussex.
- Once you are at the Unite Sussex/Pepsi page you will see the vote button at the top right hand corner of the page. Click once on VOTE and then you will be asked to sign in.
- If you have a facebook account, you may use that to sign in; if not you will need to create a log in for the website.
- Once you are signed in, you will see your user id at the bottom left hand side of the page.
- You must click on VOTE again to actually vote for Unite Sussex for the day.
- After you have successfully voted, the web page will show “now promote it” where the vote icon was.
How to promote:
- After you have voted you will see “now promote it” with an arrow pointing to several promotion icons. One will be the facebook icon.
- Click on the Facebook icon, a new window will appear. If you are not already logged into facebook, you will be asked to.
- The link for Pepsi Refresh will already be attached to an update. All you need to do is enter in an Update, i.e. Vote for Unite Sussex.
- Click Update
- Your facebook profile will already be updated with your comment and the Pepsi Refresh link.
- After you have voted you will see “now promote it” with an arrow pointing to several promotion icons. One will be the Twitter icon.
- Click on the Twitter icon, a new window will appear and direct you to your twitter page.
- You can send a tweet out, with the Pepsi Refresh link attached.
- Widgets
- On the page where you vote, www.refresheverything.com/unitesussex, there are two additional ways to help promote Unite Sussex.
- Scroll down the page a little and you will find a way to post a widget on your blog, instructions are included. This will allow people who visit your personal blog to vote for Unite Sussex without leaving your website.
- There is also a way to place a application on your facebook page that will allow people to vote directly from your profile.
- Tell everyone you know.
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!! Here is a great way to have MAXIMUM IMPACT with very little effort. Pepsi Refresh Project has accepted our application for a grant to help fund what we are doing here at Unite Sussex. To be awarded this grant, we need to receive the most votes during the month of February.
WE NEED YOUR VOTE……… here!!!
We also need to you to tell as many people as possible to vote for us. Share it on Twitter and Facebook. Blog about it. Call and email everyone in your contact list. Whatever you can do to let people know how to vote. You can find links to PROMOTE THIS IDEA on the right side of the voting web-page to help get you started.
There are some rules for voting that you can read here, but for the most part, you can vote once a day every day from now until February 28th. The idea with the most votes at the end of the month receives the grant!!
Let’s get the word out!!!!!
Thanks So Much!!
Unite Sussex Team
Hello to all of Unite Sussex friends and partners! We pray that 2010 has found you well. Now that the holidays are over and we finish closing out 2009, we are ready to kick things into high gear. We wanted to send you an update about some of the things that have been happening around the Unite Sussex office. There are some things to be excited about in 2010!
Through our continued cooperation with the State of Delaware agencies, Unite Sussex is now one of the avenues through which to receive applications for Homeless Prevention Services made available by the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA). Read the DSHA press release here. Please contact Unite Sussex at 302.732.6550 or email us to find out more about these available resources.
Watch for the possibility of more information on the use of some government owned properties, which may be coming available for public use proposals. This could be a real helping hand for community minded service organizations.
In 2010, let’s dream together what Sussex County could look like if we all UNITED to see the needs of our neighbors met. Please stay connected with the Unite Sussex website to ensure that you are part of this Conversation of Hope.
WOW!! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were fighting the wind and rain in Georgetown for our 2nd Town Hall Meeting! Thank you to everyone who was there and help to make the evening a success. There were some great conversations and we are already seeing action being taken on some of the needs that were shared that night. Two homeless families found resources they were looking for. We are working diligently with our elected officials to make crisis/emergency housing available. Conversations, meetings, and brainstorming continues on the topic of a local detox center. Early talks are starting regarding neighborhood watch and cleanup programs. A lot is happening all because YOU joined the conversation for hope. Be sure to check the website regularly for updates and sign up for our newsletter if you haven’t already. Don’t forget about our new resource tab where you can find a directory of local resources. It is a work in progress and we would love to hear from you about anything that may be missing.
The Holiday Season is wonderful time of year to reflect and be thankful for what we have. To celebrate our family and friends and our faith. There is also no better time to show someone around you in need that there IS hope. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of shopping, dinners, parties, and traveling, take time help someone in need. You don’t need a program or an organization to do that, just look next door. Maybe it is a simple as
getting to know your neighbor. Maybe it is giving toys to a struggling family. Maybe it is buying groceries for an elderly couple. Maybe it is making a donation to a charity that you believe in. Whatever it is, do it. You will begin to understand that it is truly better to give than receive. Together, UNITED around the idea of hope to all those in need, each on of us can make a substantial difference.
From everyone at Unite Sussex, May God Bless You and Your Family this Holiday Season and may this be your Merriest Christmas ever!!!
