On August 26, 2005, I received the IRS approval in the mail. Hope & A Future was now an official nonprofit! I was so excited and the approval happened so quickly. Everything was moving along so quickly!
After getting the approval in the mail, I had to run to a lunch meeting with a friend, Ann Ault.
I remember telling Ann how we just got approved and now we could start helping Arizona foster children. I shared with her about our plans to host camps, Christmas parties and helping the kids attend college.
Sitting there at lunch, Ann immediately pulled out her checkbook, wrote a check and said, “I’m honored to be your first donor! May God bless what you do for these foster children.”
And there it was – a check written out to Hope and a Future. It was surreal to see it in writing like that for the first time. But the excitement of receiving our very first donation was so thrilling!
I left our lunch and while driving home, I realized that we now needed a bank account! I drove to the bank to open an account and while the banker was assisting me, the Switchfoot song “Meant to Live” played over the radio. I don’t believe this was any coincidence. It was God confirming exactly what we were doing. Here’s the song for you: https://youtu.be/OXcrEVFZOXs?si=EO7om091fr3_xgm0
As the verse on Ann’s check says, “The LORD on high is mighty” and He has certainly provided mighty blessings for us and the foster children we serve from the very beginning days of Hope & A Future. That initial $25 investment into changing the lives of Arizona foster children has gone on to impact the lives of over 10,000 children through our programs and partnerships and has also impacted the lives of over 5,000 volunteers.
THANK YOU ANN for your first of several gifts to Hope & A Future, for believing in us and for planting this seed in our ministry.
And most importantly, THANK YOU GOD for taking our humble beginnings and growing our ministry to impact the lives of thousands in Arizona – both the foster children and the volunteers who serve!
1 Corinthians 3:7
So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
Michael Brewer, President
Hope & A Future