Today youths from Dakota Adventist Academy presented the Crisis Care Chaplaincy with hand-made ‘gifts of love’ intended to provide comfort to children who are experiencing loss due to fire.
The youths, students from the Dakota Adventist Academy, told how they were seeking to find a meaningful outreach project that would benefit the community. They brought forth their ideas and sought guidance from Dakota Adventist Academy Chaplain Derek Timms and Pastor Loren Nelson and his wife Sue. Leilah Dubreuze, a sophomore at Dakota Adventist Academy, told how one of the students and Pastor Loren and his wife Sue, were acquainted with Anna Glaser, a woman from Williston who created special blankets for children. They asked Anna if she would come to the Academy to teach them how to make the special blankets so that they too could find a way to provide them to children in need. Indeed, Anna came to the students and helped them learn how to create the special blankets made with a soft, stuffed animal attached to a small fleece blanket that a child can hold onto for comfort during loss. Breighton Ullery, a junior at Dakota Adventist Academy pulled one of the stuffed animal blankets from his briefcase and displayed the soft, touchable stuffed animal and blanket to those gathered. Pastor Nelson and his wife Sue said that together the youths created over fifty of the stuffed animal blankets which they delivered today to the Crisis Care Chaplaincy at the Lockport Fire Station in Bismarck.
Crisis Care Chaplain, Greg Carr who serves as the chaplain for local fire services in Bismarck and Burleigh County said, “It is our prayer that no child or family would be affected by a tragic event, but when it happens, we can bring hope and relief in part, through these gifts of love made possible by the generosity of the youths here today.”
The Crisis Care Chaplaincy, a local faith based organization, serves the community and local and state law enforcement and fire services in Burleigh County. 'Crisis Intervention through Chaplaincy' is the mission of the Crisis Care Chaplaincy. They believe that it is their calling to be Christ's presence when people are experiencing extreme trauma and loss. They believe that if Christ were present at the scene of a fatality or tragic event, Christ would bring His healing touch to bear and bring peace to people in crisis. For more information visit www.chaplainsnd.org
Dakota Adventist Academy is a Seventh-day Adventist boarding academy located in Bismarck that cultivates a Christ-centered life by providing academic and vocational education preparing young people for commitment to God, service to society, and citizenship in heaven. Their motto: “Building Friendships for Eternity”.