Dunbar Girls Basketball Mission Needs Your Support
Dear Friend in Christ! First, let me say “thank you” for being a strong supporter of Cypress Lake Church through your presence, your attendance, and your financial gifts. While our church is growing, our mission ministries need a boost. Through our Dunbar Girls Basketball outreach, we have seen many lives changed for the better. Yes, our Dunbar girls basketball mission needs your financial support. There was a need to help young girls, mostly young black women with financial support; to send them to attend summer basketball camps. Each basketball summer camp allowed each team member to develop their talents and skills, to grow their confidence in the game, and to learn how a structured competitive camp environment would help them in their quest of becoming a team. Fortunately, Cypress Lake was there to assist these young women. We were allowed to mentor, coach, and show Christian love from the bleachers and from behind the scenes with donations. This past season found one of our own members, Kelly Abbott, serving as an assistant coach. Three years later, we have witnessed the results of our contributions to our Dunbar Girls. Our girls have been to the state finals twice finishing second both times. #2 in the state, and #1 in our hearts. About 25 church members regularly follow the girls to their games. We ride our church bus to their games along with the girl’s parents and grandparents. Barriers have been broken, binding relationships have been formed, and it has changed lives because of love — love of the game, love of the person and love of Christ. We have seen the girls and their families attend our church, we have seen the Dunbar Booster Club members attend our services every three weeks and we have enjoyed fellowship with the team and their families with a year end recognition dinner. Our church received some comments this past year from stories that were reported in the Naples News “A church, a team, and a dream” and also through our own Florida Methodist conference newsletter article entitled “Church adopts team, but benefits are mutual.” Today, you can make an immediate difference in the life of one of these young women by making a financial donation so that we can send the team to summer basketball camps and tournaments to sharpen their basketball savvy and skills. Our 2008 fundraising needs for the next 12 months are $4,000. Make your checks out to Cypress Lake Church and in the subject line write Dunbar Girls. Please send the most generous gift you can and join us this November in the bleachers! Check out these articles about the success of the Dunbar Girls Basketball Outreach: Naples Daily News "A church, a team and a dream" Florida United Methodist News Service "Church adopts team, but benefits are mutual"
Let me share with you the success story of Cypress Lake church and the Dunbar Girls basketball team. Three years ago, our relationship with Dunbar High School started as a way for our church to enter into the community with a mission based on love of church, love of children and love of harmony with a girls basketball team in a high school that was located in a very diverse area. Richard Dickey, our church’s former associate pastor, reached out to the Dunbar Tigers, making Coach Dwayne Donnell’s team part of our churches mission’s ministry.