East Cobb Church Archives

Simple Needs GA box truck

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Members of East Cobb Church have responded to the pressing needs of the poor in Cobb County by buying Simple Needs GA a brand-new box truck for picking up and delivering furniture.

In addition to the donation of the 16-foot GMC Savana box truck, the congregation also made a large financial donation that will cover the cost of insurance and maintenance for the vehicle over the course of its lifetime.

More than 250 church members also purchased about 3,000 full-sized toiletries and other useful items for distribution by SNGA to shelter check-ins and people experiencing homelessness in Cobb County.

Taken together, the gifts are by far the largest donation in the history of the Marietta-based nonprofit.

As a result, SNGA will no longer need to spend large sums of money to rent box trucks for picking up and delivering furniture and household items as part of its Simple Household Needs program, said Brenda Rhodes SNGA Founder and President.

“The donation of the box truck gives our volunteers much more capacity for picking up and delivering furniture as needed,” she noted. “We’ve already been making pickups and deliveries with the truck and have seen firsthand how being more efficient will allow us to help many more people over time.”

Located at 2450 Lower Roswell Rd., East Cobb Church was founded in January 2020.

The donation came as part of its first-ever “Be Rich” campaign, which gets its name from 1 Timothy 6:18 (“Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”).

The goal of the fundraising portion was to help SNGA with its furniture logistics challenges. “Our volunteers often had to scramble to find a way to get much-needed furniture and household items to our clients in Cobb County,” Rhodes noted.

Initially, though, Pastor Jamey Dickens assumed the campaign would bring in enough money to buy the nonprofit a used pickup truck—not a far-more-expensive, brand-new box truck, he said. Dickens and Katie Peters, a pastoral counselor at East Cobb Church who coordinated the campaign, asked the church’s roughly 800 members to each donate at least $39.95.

The outpouring of generosity that resulted was remarkable, Dickens said. “The money just came pouring in,” he said.

On October 23, East Cobb Church delivered the truck to SNGA’s Marietta warehouse near Cobb Parkway to the applause and tears of SNGA board members, volunteers and other contributors.

Already deeply involved in community service, members of East Cobb Church were well aware of the disproportionate effects of the pandemic on the poor and were eager to answer the call when the Be Rich campaign was launched, Dickens said.

“Our people deserve a major shout out and so does Katie, who did a fantastic job leading this effort,” he said. “We’re grateful, too, for how God has led and moved in our church.”

As Dickens sees it, the successful campaign illustrates the power of people coming together as a community to help others.

“I loved that it was a very large group effort,” he said. “The ask was just basic, but people stepped up and did what they could—and look at what happened. People give where their heart is engaged.”

Hearts at Simple Needs GA were touched as well, said Yolanda Kingsberry, a member of SNGA’s board and frequent furniture volunteer.

“We’re so fortunate to live in a community of generous supporters who value our work and want to help us help others,” she said. “We will make East Cobb Church proud by using this truck to bring comfort to many more deserving families.”

In a reflection of the generosity of our community at this time, the largest prior donation to SNGA also came during the pandemic when Linked UP Church in Powder Springs donated $14,250 to SNGA this past summer.

Founded in 2010, SNGA has distributed thousands of duffel bags of full-sized toiletries to shelter check-ins and people experiencing homelessness. Among other activities, the Marietta-based nonprofit last year brought birthday presents and other useful items to more than 270 homeless children; brought furniture and household items to 151 clients; and provided 166 children in 64 families with $100 in requested Christmas gifts.

For more information about SNGA, email brenda@simpleneedsga.org.