“Before they
are eighteen, about half of our Nation’s children will have lived part of their
lives with a single parent who strives to fill both the role of mother and
father…Now, therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of
America, do hereby proclaim March 21, 1984 as National Single Parent Day. I
call on the people of the United States to recognize the contributions single
parents are making, sometimes under great hardships, to the lives of their
children, and I ask that they volunteer their help, privately or through
community organizations, to single parents who seek it to meet their
aspirations for their children.” –Ronald Reagan, Proclamation 5166, March 21,
1984
Fact: This
year alone, over half the babies born to women under the age of 30 will be to
unwed mothers.
Fact: Single
parent households now make up approximately 37% of all homes in America.
Fact: There
are zero to very few single-day events directed specifically towards single
parents; somewhere they can go to find the resources they need─ all in one
place, at one time.
Until now!
This coming
March, in Grand Rapids, MI, we will be hosting our 4th annual Grand Rapids Single Parenting Expo. What began several years back as a
good idea and a sort of experiment has now become our ministry’s central event
and continues to grow each year. We have seen growth in both vendor
participation and public attendance. Media exposure is growing and the word is
getting out─ definitely a plus if we want to grow this event the way I envision
it can. In fact, I don’t see why a few thousand single parents (or those
working with single parents) couldn’t attend the SPE this year and that it
could become a premier event in our area! Well, because single parent ministry
is hard, and it’s not about us, that’s why.
Let me back
this up for you. Back in 2012 we launched our first SPE, on March 17th.
I thought it would be a no-brainer for people to remember the Expo was on St.
Patrick’s Day. And, I asked the Lord for good weather that day, so ice or snow
wouldn’t deter anyone from coming out. Ask and you shall receive. It turned out
to be a GORGEOUS 80-degree day that day (way out of character for Michigan in
March!), and apparently people thought it would be more fun to go downtown on
such a beautiful day and drink green beer instead of coming and getting the
help they needed as single parents. Sigh, live and learn. Fast forward to March
of 2014 and we had by far our best event ever. Yes, attendance was up on all
levels, but that isn’t how I gauged the success of the day. What I saw were
dozens of single parents and organizations mingling with each other; people
helping people not out of obligation, but with compassion. We were blessed
enough to have a food truck sponsored that day and fed over 130 people on the
street, plus a free lunch inside. I even had one single mom come up and thank
me and tell me how absolutely convenient it was for her to find everything she
needed in one room as opposed to surfing the Web all day or making phone calls.
Still, the highlight of my day was meeting Jessica (name changed). Jessica was
a recent single mom who just left an extremely abusive marriage. She showed up
before we had officially even begun the day and stayed almost the entire time,
just visiting and talking with all of the vendors. But then the Gospel took
over and our group of prayer partners were able to sit with Jessica and pray
over her. Once the food truck showed up she asked me if she could help herself.
“Absolutely”, I confirmed. When she came in with one full box of food I gave
her another empty box and told her to go get round two. Jessica immediately put
her hand over her mouth and began to tear up. “I’ve never been this loved
before” she told me. It was definitely a tear-jerking moment for both of us,
because I knew THIS is what the Expo is all about. Granted, it is not
advertised as a “religious” event; but it doesn’t need to be to show others the
love of Christ.
We have a
God-given vision to take the SPE to the next level this year; as for the first
time ever we will be adding a second day. The 2015 Grand Rapids Single
Parenting Expo will be held on Saturday March 21 from 9am-3pm. However, the
night before, on March 20 from 6:30-9pm, we are presenting an event
“Remembering the Fatherless”, led by keynote speaker John Sowers. Dr. Sowers is
the president of The Mentoring Project in Oklahoma City and is one of the
leading voices in our nation in fighting the war against fatherlessness. He
will be casting a vision and telling stories of how and why mentoring works. It
will be a powerful message of hope, inspiration, and an example of how we ALL
can make a difference in a fatherless child’s life through the gift of
mentoring. We even hope to have several local mentoring programs present that
evening where people can sign up on site to be a mentor. Jesus calls us to take
care of the least of these; this is our niche in helping to fulfill our portion
of the Great Commission.
Starting a Single Parenting Expo in
your area
I pray the
brief examples and stories I have shared with you have stirred you to at least
begin to ponder what something like this may look like in your city. My prayer
is that Single Parenting Expos will begin to pop up all over the nation and
become a catalyst for serving one of the most vital, yet often overlooked
portions of our society. Single parents are in many ways heroes, but no one is
showing that to them. If in fact you are being led to form a SPE of your own,
here are a few quick points to help you get it started.
1. FREE admission for all guests. Single parents often don’t have a
lot of money, if any at all. So don’t let this be a hindrance to having people
attend your event.
2. Have a variety of vendors: faith-based and non-faith-based; for
profits (such as financial or legal services) and nonprofits; local
organizations and national programs (Head Start, Divorce Care, The Life of a
Single Mom, A Father’s Walk, etc…) Try to think of what single parents need and
cover all demographics- from a teenage mom in the inner city to a divorced dad
from the suburbs.
3. Keep vendor costs to a
minimum. I charge $25
per table for vendors. Since most of your participants will be nonprofits, it
is best to keep the cost low for them.
4. Serve a meal! Again, food is a big draw for
anyone, but free food for a single parent family is a given. Something simple
like hot dogs, coffee, cookies, and popcorn will be sufficient, unless you have
a budget to do more.
5. Kid’s area. Have something for the kids to do
(face painting, gaga pit, coloring, etc…), just make sure to have all your
bases covered with background checks, legalities, and so forth
6. Keep your costs low. Any place that is willing to donate
the space for free or minimal cost is a plus. Look for as many volunteers as
you can to help with greeting, kid’s area, food, set up/tear down, prizes, and
so on. I have found people love to help out with our event, especially if they
get a hold of the vision you have to help single parents.
7. Fundraising. If you are a registered 501©3
nonprofit, this will definitely make it easier to recruit donations, but not
necessary. We did the first 3 years of our event without a tax-deductible
status. (We’re official now, praise God)
Look for donations of prizes from local businesses and really cast the
vision to them. And don’t be afraid to ask people for money. Give them a
clear-cut picture of what your event will look like and why you are doing it
and hopefully they will contribute financially. Plus, you do raise money from
your vendor fees, so the more vendors you have equals more for your budget.
8. Remember your purpose. Jessica’s story above is only one on
the growing list of examples we are experiencing as the years roll by with our
SPE. In a way this is discipleship. True discipleship isn’t as focused on
numbers as much as it is on individuals. For example, an evangelist can come
into any church and preach a message that brings the house down; one where
hundreds of people come forward in response to an altar call. But after that he
or she is on to their next gig and all of these new converts need someone to
lead and shepherd them. Don’t let your event be a one and done altar call. Use
it as a springboard to get single parents and their kids plugged into the
programs they need to thrive. Keep an email list from registration to follow up
with your attendees and keep them in the loop of other upcoming events or news.
If done properly, your Single Parenting Expo can be the vessel so many families
in your area have been looking for to find help and resources. You are also
welcome to contact me at any time for more information on getting your Expo
launched. All of my contact info is on our website.
The King will answer and say to them,
“Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of
Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” –Matthew 25:40 (NASB)
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