During an Alice in Wonderland Book Study hosted by the nonprofit All the King’s Children (AtKC), volunteer and Carver Elementary teacher Michelle Holland cooks up a memorable experience for Mount Olive area youth. The book study is one of many activities and events offered by AtKC’s Learning Lab, which received a $10,000 grant from First Baptist Mount Olive’s ‘The Gratitude Project.’ (Marcia Whitley|Courtesy photo)
Dr. Lauren Saeger, branch manager of Steele Memorial Library, stands next to materials recently purchased for the library’s new Learning Studio Resource Center. The Resource Center was made possible by a $5,000 grant from ‘The Gratitude Project’ of First Baptist Mount Olive. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Hippie Hog greets visitors to The Arts Council of Wayne County’s Mount Olive location in the education building of First Baptist Church. Through ‘The Gratitude Project,’ the church donated $10,000 to help children who need financial assistance to attend art camps and lessons at the site. (Kathy Grant Westbrook|mountolivetribune.com)
Carver Elementary teacher Kelly Richardson leads a discussion during an Alice in Wonderland Book Study hosted by All the King’s Children. AtKC, a nonprofit founded in 2014 by Marcia Whitley, received a $10,000 grant from ‘The Gratitude Project’ of First Baptist Mount Olive, giving the organization resources for its Learning Lab, which offers book studies and numerous other educational endeavors. (Marcia Whitley|Courtesy photo)
On Nov. 18, 2021, Pastor Dennis Atwood issued a challenge to his congregation. “I proposed that First Baptist Mount Olive set aside $100,000 as an expression of our gratitude to God and invest these funds into the neediest parts of our community,” Atwood recalls.
It was an audacious challenge, to be sure, but it wasn’t entirely out of left field, as it came on the heels of Atwood’s completion of a four-part sermon series focused on gratitude: “Gratitude in Anxious Times” (Matthew 6:25-34), “Living With Gratitude” (Psalm 106:1-3), “The Movements of Gratitude” (Matthew 14:13-21), and “A Heart of Gratitude” (Psalm 95).
“We were still in the midst of the great uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, shrinking attendance, and a tight economy, but I felt strongly this was what God wanted me to put forth,” Atwood explains. “So, thankfully, in February, 2022, the congregation gave unanimous approval to the birth of ‘The Gratitude Project,’ which would result in $100,000 being invested in ‘community development’ for our small town. Our goal was to target poverty, affordable housing, educational opportunities for children and youth, and economic progress among the poor, and $100,000 in a small town and go a long way.
“We did not want to duplicate the good work already being done by local organizations and nonprofits,” he continues. “We simply needed to let go of some of our assets to empower those groups already doing great work.”
The way Atwood sees it, his congregation shares a common passion with these local organizations and nonprofits, and that passion is a desire to close what author and speaker Diana Butler Bass describes as the “gratitude gap.” In Grateful: The Subversive Practice of Giving Thanks, Butler writes, “There is a gratitude gap between what we believe and what we practice…that we may be thankful in private, but individual gratitude doesn’t appear to make much difference in our larger common life together.”
Over the past couple of years, First Baptist, through The Gratitude Project, has been doing its part to try to close the gratitude gap by making donations to a wide variety of local causes: “Keys to Success,” a program developed by Janet Rose, the church’s organist and director of music, was awarded $5,000 to provide free piano lessons (and even a piano for their homes, so they can practice) to musically talented children from families who cannot afford to pay for lessons; the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ Mount Olive Hurricanes youth tackle football club/mentorship program was awarded $10,000 to purchase new equipment, including helmets and pads; a donation was given to The Warehouse for its “Project 506 (Be Well Initiative)” to provide short-term and long-term counseling to children and families; $5,000 was given to Together For Hope, a nonprofit that works to alleviate poverty in the 300 poorest counties in the U.S.; and $18,000 was awarded to WARM NC, a nonprofit that assists low-income homeowners in southeast North Carolina, for the repair and renovation of a Mount Olive family’s home.
Last year, when First Baptist entered into an agreement with The Arts Council of Wayne County to rent spaces in the church’s education building to the Council to serve as artists’ studios, The Gratitude Project strengthened the partnership by providing $10,000 in scholarships for children in need of financial assistance to attend art camps and lessons at the church facilities.
Recently, Steele Memorial Library used a $5,000 donation from The Gratitude Project to purchase the materials needed to establish a Learning Studio Resource Center to serve those in the community with learning differences, such as dyslexia and ADHD. (MountOliveTribune.com ran a story about this on June 15; at that time Dr. Lauren Saeger, branch manager of Steele Memorial, expressed her appreciation for The Gratitude Project and said of the church, “You see the love that they have for the community.”)
The Gratitude Project also gave $10,000 to All the King’s Children (AtKC), a nonprofit that Marcia Whitley founded in 2014 to help meet the needs of children and families in the Mount Olive area. Of the impact the church’s donation has made, Whitley says, “We have worked to offer educational programming for the past ten years, but their generosity and support have allowed us to consolidate and increase our efforts.”
Specifically, funds from the church were used to outfit AtKC’s Learning Lab with student supplies (books and other educational tools), as well as a projector, library scanner, sewing machines, and fire extinguishers.
“The mission of the program is to provide educational and hands-on experiences that provide our children with the skills needed and opportunity to become independent, productive members of society,” Whitley explains.
She goes on to describe how AtKC’s newly-equipped Learning Lab has served the community, saying, “We have hosted book studies, arts and crafts events, a summer support supply giveaway, and provided space for private tutoring.” This summer, the Learning Lab is hosting Teaching Tuesdays for elementary-age children (grades 1 through 4) that, Whitley says, “feature fun learning activities with a different theme each session.” Although a small fee is charged, financial assistance is available for children, if needed.
At this time, First Baptist is looking ahead to disbursing the final funds from The Gratitude Project. According to Atwood, “We have discussed awarding the remaining funds toward an affordable housing effort in Mount Olive. Or we may be totally surprised by something we never considered. Whatever it is…our journey is just beginning! Maybe there will even be a Gratitude Project 2.0?” Whatever happens next, one thing is certain: First Baptist Mount Olive has already taken several important steps toward closing the “gratitude gap.”
