How Focus’ Staff Gives Back

Here’s a heartwarming story as we close in on the end of the week: there’s a Colorado young woman who’s taking care of preemies and their families in a most thoughtful way.

Student Suzy Luff is 20 years old, and she’s been handknitting hats for these tiny babies in area hospitals for six years now. Her effort started small – just Luff and her loom. However, it’s since grown into a nonprofit organization called Hats 4 Hope that trains hundreds of volunteers through knitting parties. NBC News recently highlighted Luff’s efforts via an article and national news segment (viewable at the link).

How can you not love reading this type of hope-inspiring story?

When describing a recent knitting party, the article states,

“On a recent Saturday afternoon she [Luff] worked with a group of women from Focus on the Family.

“‘I love the fact that we can keep their little heads warm and maybe give them a little better start,’ said Joyce Shelley, one of the trainees.”

Joyce is one of the many behind-the-scenes people who help bring our daily broadcast to your radio or phone app. And in her spare time, she and 14 other Focus staff members and family, make hats for the smallest, most vulnerable babies. These women started their efforts on Feb. 1 – and have already knit almost 300 hats!

As proud as I am to read that members of the Focus family are using their personal time to give back, I can’t say I’m surprised. I’ve seen it happen many times before – serving others is just part of who our staffers are.

Take Kathy Peterson, for example. Once homeless, Kathy, who works in Focus’ Operations department, came up with the idea to collect toilet paper for the local Colorado Springs community.

Toilet paper is something we don’t typically spend a lot of time thinking about – until you need it and it’s not there. A lack of toilet paper is a problem for many struggling families because food stamps can’t be used to purchase this basic necessity.

Thanks in part to the passion and leadership Kathy has shown, Focus joined 17 other local faith-based ministries. Together, we’ve distributed hundreds of thousands of rolls of toilet paper to those who need them. The toilet paper drive is now in its fourth year.

There’s also the employee-wide “MobilePack” event with Feed My Starving Children a few years ago. Two young women from our HR department, Jennifer Scheck and Allison Meggers, initiated, organized and led the effort to pack meals for kids around the world who are hungry. I had the pleasure of participating with my two boys, Trent and Troy. What a big production that was – between our employees and their families, we had 470 volunteers! Together we packed 101,088 total meals – and that translates to 276 children being fed for an entire year. Just incredible.

More recently, Focus team members participated in a Samaritan’s Purse effort to sift through the ashes of homes burned down in the area’s Waldo Canyon and Black Forest fires. They came together to help find valuables and items of sentimental significance for local residents who had lost everything.

There are just a few examples of how our team tangibly shares the love of Jesus. I couldn’t be prouder of the men and women of Focus on the Family. Their heart for helping others shines through every day – not just in the resources and services they provide for you, but in how they contribute to their local communities and beyond.

Learn more about “Irreplaceable,” the one-night theatrical event showing on May 6