LADY WITH A BIG HEART!!!

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

I met a young lady this week with a big heart. Her name is Lisa Robison and she is the Founder & President of a local Dallas non-profit called 'Dwell with Dignity' (DWD).

A few years ago as Lisa was approaching her 40th birthday, her husband asked her what she wanted as a gift. After much thought she decided that she didn't want anything for herself. What she did want was a 'venue' to give to the less fortunate in our community.

So after much thought and prayer she came up with the idea of 'Dwell with Dignity---a non-profit dedicated to designing and furnishing home interiors for families escaping poverty and homelessness. Imagine if you will, a homeless family finally being able to move into their own housing. However that's only half the battle. Typically they would be moving into a barren space without any furniture, appliances, bedding or kitchen ware. That's where Lisa and DWD ride to the rescue. They come in and take an empty space and transform it into a comfortable, warm and loving space---a real home. How does Lisa and her fabulous team know they are doing good. They need only look at the smiles on the faces of the incoming families and the tears in their eyes as the new homeowners see the incredible transformation DWD has made in their new home.

However that's not the end of the story. In fact its only the beginning. You see, Lisa started DWD on a wing and a lot of prayers. Armed only with a little seed money from her husband and a lot of prayers Lisa and DWD have come light years in the last 24 months. They have done so well that they are booked up for home makeovers for the coming year. Therein lies the rub. It take money to make it all happen. And while people from all over the Dallas area have been incredibly generous in donating home furnishings, cash is what really makes it all work.

I want to encourage my readers to reach out to Lisa and DWD with both furnishings AND monies. I can speak from experience here. You need money to run a non-profit. Good works don't come free. I'm asking you to give prayer consideration to partnering with Lisa and DWD in a monetary way. I'm not asking you to give to her sacrificially. I'm asking you to give to her out of your abundance. Lisa is making a difference! You too can make a difference by partnering with her in this wonderful cause. Visit the DWD website for more details on how to contact Lisa and how to help. http://www.dwellwithdignity.org/Contact.html

Did I mention that Lisa is a LADY WITH A BIG HEART!

May the Lord Bless & Keep You All.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

BABY, ITS COLD OUTSIDE!!!

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

In case you haven't noticed, 'Baby, it's cold outside!!!' A cold arctic blast has hit the Dallas area. Winds chills in the teens and not a lot of sunshine. For most of us regular folk it's only a minor inconvenience. We sashay from our heated homes to our heated cars to our heated offices. Oh yeah, we have to brave the cold as we transfer from one heated place to another but all in all we do pretty well each winter.

However, if you are a homeless man or woman (yes, there are many homeless women out there) it's not so easy getting through the winter. Imagine sleeping in a cardboard box under an expressway with temperatures below freezing and the wind ripping through your encampment. I recently had a speaking engagement about homelessness at an affluent church in Dallas. One of the audience members remarked to me, "Well they (the homeless) should just stay in a shelter if they want to keep warm." Au contraire" I responded---for you regular folk that means 'that dog don't hunt'---and if you want to hear it in pure SoupMan soupspeak it means---NO WAY.

Its estimated that there are 10,000 homeless in the Dallas area but that only about 2,000 shelter beds are available on any given night. Simple math tells us there is not enough 'Room at the Inn.' Just last night I drove by one of the major shelters in Dallas and outside sleeping on the cold sidewalk were at least 25 homeless people. Yes, they were sleeping 'outside' the shelter---there was not enough 'room at the inn.'

Okay, so now you know what the problem is--- too many homeless and not enough shelter beds. So what's the solution you might ask? Well on a ground level basis we need to try to help the ones that are sleeping out in the cold every night. They need warm coats, blankets, gloves and hats. Recently I put out a 'Code Blue' Weather Alert and asked for donations of warm weather gear. I'm pleased to say that the response was fantastic. Friends, donors and supporters stepped up to the plate and donated some much need warm weather gear. However winter has a long way to go and the SoupMobile needs more---particularly warm winter coats. Got coats??? Email the SoupMan at david@soupmobile.org.

On a more advanced level the solution to thousands of homeless people not being able to get 'room at the inn' is more shelter beds. The SoupMobile is also working hard on that front. In 2009 we opened up SoupMobile Village---a series of group homes designed to take a homeless man or women off the streets, put a roof over their heads, clean then up, get them a job and return them as productive 'working' members of society. It's a 'Hand Up' not a 'Hand Out.'

And lets not forget the number one thing homeless people need---Love!!! Yep, you heard me right---the number one thing they need is Love---specifically the love of Jesus. We have to love our homeless men and women. The way I do it is to imagine that one of them may just be Jesus. And hey---if you knew it was Jesus standing out there in the cold, you would move heaven and earth to help him. Well, whether it's Jesus or not, these homeless men and women are his precious children. Lets give them love, compassion, caring and shelter. How can you do that? Simple, join the SoupMan and his fabulous SoupTeam as we reach out in love to the ones Jesus called the 'least of these.' For more information on how to be part of our amazing mission, go to www.soupmobile.org. Be prepared to change lives and be prepared for your own life to change.

Baby, It's Cold Outside---and you can do something about it.

May the Lord Bless & Keep You,

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

The SoupMan, Executive Director of the Year???

Hello, my name is Lon Ricker and I’m the Director of Development at the SoupMobile. That’s just a fancy title for saying that I do everything I can to raise the money to support what often seems like outrageous ideas of the SoupMan. It also means that I have passwords to, among other things, his blog site, and today I decided to “take over” and talk about him, the SoupMan (a.k.a., David Timothy).

When I transitioned from stirring spaghetti on Wednesdays to writing grants and other fundraising activities (such as the Celebrate Jesus Christmas event), a few of the other “office workers” quietly lobbied me to “fix” the SoupMan. “He uses too many exclamation points” and “Sometimes he doesn’t use the correct grammar” and “You CAN’T buy personalized license plates for a vehicle you don’t even own yet!” were some of the things that people tried to convince me needed to be fixed. To say the SoupMan is unconventional is a bit of an understatement. (I mean, how many people have the nerve to put a One Million Dollar button on the Donation page of their website? http://soupmobile.org/component/content/article/129)

Face it, David became the Executive Director of the SoupMobile because he STARTED the SoupMobile. Its not because he has a wall full of degrees and credentials. And its not because he had experience running mega-bagillion dollar capital campaigns. And its not even because he climbed the ladder of leadership at other nonprofits. No, its because God put into his heart to feed and shelter the homeless and he’s darn good at it.

You see, when the SoupMan gets an idea of how to help the ones Jesus called the ‘least of these’, he not only throws conventional wisdom aside, but he pretty much ignores it. Don’t get me wrong, he is NOT some loose cannon running around doing crazy things with no thought given. Rather he doesn’t know the word ‘impossible’ and he won’t accept the attitude of “but you’ve never done it before” as reason for not doing it anyway. Like the bumblebee that aerodynamically should not be able to fly, David accomplishes all that he does because “no one told him he can’t fly”.

SoupMobile Village is just one example of people trying to convince David that he should “stick with what he knows best (feeding)” and leave housing the homeless to those with experience. Well, in less than a year we have 3 (THREE!) SoupMobile Village homes up and running and just received notice that funding is on the way for the FOURTH! Ummm, Mr. BumbleBee….ah, never mind you’re already working on SoupMobile Diner.

I can tell you this, I’ve actually had grant requests denied because we don’t follow ALL of the conventions for a “normal” nonprofit agency. It drives me crazy because some of these large foundations look more at “structure” than they do at what we are actually accomplishing. They don’t seem to take notice that nearly 80 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to our mission to “Feed HIS Sheep”. They seem to ignore the fact that for the 7 years that David has been the Executive Director of the SoupMobile, his salary has averaged less than $13,000 per year! (Come to think of it, maybe he’s the Executive Director because no one else WANTS the job.)

Well folks, I’m happy to tell you that has all changed! That’s right; David is not the Executive Director of the SoupMobile because of his credentials. He’s the Executive Director of this growing agency because he is good at it! Because he has a passion for it!!! And BECAUSE of what he has accomplished with his unconventional ways!!!!! (Exclamation points and all!)

And at their 10^th Anniversary Night of Light ceremony, the Center for Nonprofit Management crowned The SoupMan as Executive Director of the Year!!!

And in true SoupMan style, when they made the announcement, and cranked up the Rocky Theme Song, he RAN up to the stage with the enthusiasm and spirit of a man that doesn’t live by conventional wisdom. His ‘style’ of shaping and growing the SoupMobile into what it has become today was affirmed on that night. You don’t have to sit behind a big mahogany desk (we occasionally move the mop bucket out of his office if he’s expecting a guest) or follow some “Roberts Rules of Order” to be acknowledged for the work you are doing. David will often say “if you are doing God’s work, He will help you accomplish it”.

Well, I should probably turn the password to his blog back over to him, but I thought you should know that this unconventional, even a bit quirky man that we know as the "SoupMan" has finally been recognized and validated by his peers. As for me, I’m just proud to call him Friend.

God bless,

Lon

ANOTHER CHRISTMAS FOR JESUS

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

Well, that's another Christmas in the books. Or as we like to say at the SoupMobile---Another Christmas for Jesus! How so, you say?

2,000 years ago there was 'No Room at the Inn' for baby Jesus. However in 2010 the SoupMobile made 'Room at the Inn' for hundreds of homeless folks. We just celebrated our 6th Annual CELEBRATE JESUS Christmas event. We took 500 (YES 500) homeless men and women right off the streets of Dallas and put them up at the downtown Dallas Hyatt Regency Hotel for Christmas. They all received new clothes, fabulous gifts, lots of love and we held a huge mega banquet in their honor. Most important when they woke up on Christmas morning it was in a warm safe bed at the Hyatt---not in a cardboard box under some bridge.

Once again the special guest server at this years event was Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert. He was joined by over 1,500 volunteers who came to the Hyatt to help out with the event. For the 2nd year in a row, Lon Ricker was the Chairman of the Celebrate Jesus Christmas event. He did an amazing job as he coordinated and ran this massive event. Our special thanks to Lon for giving of himself to this wonderful cause.

In reality it all keeps coming back to Jesus. HE said "Feed My Sheep." At the SoupMobile we believe he meant more than just food. He also meant love, caring, compassion and shelter. The SoupMobile does this on a daily basis throughout the year. Celebrating Christmas at the Hyatt with our 500 homeless guests is the grand finale of our efforts every year. My special thanks to all the volunteers that attended the event and to all those that supported the SoupMobile during the year.

Yes, it was another 'Christmas for Jesus.' Now its back to 'every day for Jesus.' The SoupMobile is on the front lines on a year around basis as we wage a war against hunger in the Dallas area. Every day we are spreading the love of Jesus as we go about our mission of 'Feeding' and 'Sheltering' the homeless. The SoupMan would be honored if you would join him in 2011 and work shoulder to shoulder with him as we 'Feed HIS Sheep.' For more details about the SoupMobile go to: www.soupmobile.org

May the Lord Bless Bless & Keep You.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

Dear SoupFriends,

What's the true meaning of Christmas?

Is it just about Christmas trees, lights, holiday dinner and gifts? Or is it more? For me its all about the birth of Jesus. More specifically its about giving. My wife Shana says it this way, "If you're not giving, you're not living." We know from the Bible that Jesus was all about giving.

So what will you be doing this Christmas? Will you be giving? No I don't mean giving in the 'commercial' sense. I mean giving of yourself to help others in need. I mean reaching out to your fellowman in love. I mean stepping out of your comfort zone to make a real difference in the life of someone less fortunate than yourself.

In just a few days the SoupMobile will be celebrating its 6th Annual SoupMobile Celebrate Jesus Christmas event. We will be taking 500 homeless men and women right off the streets of Dallas and putting them up at the downtown Dallas Hyatt Regency Hotel. They will all receive new clothes, fabulous gifts, lots of love and we will hold a huge banquet in their honor. Most important is that when they wake up on Christmas morning it will be in a warm safe bed at the Hyatt---not in a cardboard box under some bridge.

How would you like to be part of a group of more than 1,500 volunteers who will be coming to the Hyatt this Christmas. How would you like to join us in making it a magical Christmas for 500 homeless men and women. How would you like to experience the most magical Christmas of your own life. A Christmas of giving---not the giving of gifts but the giving of yourself.

Let this be your year---your Christmas to make a real difference in the life of a homeless person. For more details how to volunteer, go to www.soupmobile.org and click on CELEBRATE JESUS.

Merry Christmas and may the Lord bless and keep you.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

MAYOR WITH A HEART

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

2,000 years ago a child was born in Bethlehem. As this child grew into manhood he did some amazing things. He did miraculous things like turning water into wine. Then he topped that by walking on the water. He went around laying hands on people and healing them. Then he bumped that up a notch & started healing people that he had never seen by simply speaking the Word. Not satisfied with that, he began raising people from the dead. Even that was not enough as he raised himself from the dead. His name---Jesus!

A couple of thousand years later a man was born who would grow up to the Mayor of one of the largest cities in America. His name---Tom Leppert. You might be asking what these two men born 2,000 years apart have in common. The answer is simple---they both have a servant's heart.

At Christmas this year, Mayor Tom Leppert will be attending the banquet at the SoupMobile's 6th Annual Celebrate Jesus Christmas event. Just like we do every year, the SoupMobile will be taking 500 homeless men and women right off the streets of Dallas and putting them up at the downtown Dallas Hyatt Regency Hotel for Christmas. Yes, I said THE Hyatt Regency. All of our homeless guests will receive new clothes, fabulous gifts, lots of love and we will hold a huge banquet in their honor. Most important is that when they wake up on Christmas morning it will be in a warm safe bed at the Hyatt---not in a cardboard box under some bridge.

Please note that Mayor Leppert isn't coming to the banquet to be served. He is coming to serve! He will be coming in his Tuxedo and he will be the chief server at the Homeless Banquet on Friday December 24th from 12:30PM to 2:30PM. He is coming with a servants heart---just like Jesus would do. Yes, I call him the Mayor with a heart---a heart for reaching out to the ones Jesus called the 'least of these.'

How about you? Care to roll up your sleeves and serve shoulder to shoulder with the Mayor this Christmas? Yes come and help us "Feed HIS Sheep." Come and experience the most magical Christmas of your entire life. Come not to be served---but to serve!

For more details about volunteering at the SoupMobile's 6th Annual Celebrate Jesus Christmas event, go to www.soupmobile.org and click on CELEBRATE JESUS.

May the Lord bless and keep you all.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan

IF YOU'RE NOT GIVING, YOU'RE NOT LIVING.

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!

My wife Shana often says, "if you're not giving, you're not living." I believe there is a lot of truth in that statement. This Thanksgiving I was privileged to join a group of 25 loving, passionate, committed volunteers who helped prepare and serve more than 500 Thanksgiving Dinners to the homeless in the Dallas area.

When most people think of Thanksgiving they think of what they are thankful for. Many families have a tradition of everyone at the table telling what they are thankful for before they eat their Thanksgiving meal. I think that's nice but I don't really think that's the true spirit of Thanksgiving. We need only to look at the second part of the word Thanksgiving to get a glimpse into what its all about. Yes, the 'giving' part of the word.

I believe the real spirit of Thanksgiving is giving of ourselves to help others. To take it a step further, I believe the real spirit of life is giving of ourselves to help others. I've lived my life both ways. Back in my younger days Thanksgiving was all about me. My wants, my needs, me--me--me! Looking back it wasn't a very satisfying or fulfilling holiday.In fact life itself wasn't very satisfying when it was all about me.

This year I was blessed to work shoulder to shoulder with those 25 volunteers serving Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless in the Dallas area, I felt a total sense of fulfillment and satisfaction. What was the difference? We weren't doing it for ourselves, we were doing it for those in need. And the more we gave the more we got. Each meal given to a homeless person was a gift to ourselves. Our hearts were filled with love, tenderness and joy as we served the ones Jesus called the 'least of these.' We were 'giving' and oh how wonderfully we were 'living.'

I don't know how you spent your Thanksgiving this year but the day is over and won't be back for 12 long months. So if you missed the 'giving' part of the day, I'm going to give you a second chance at the brass ring. A second chance to experience the same love, same tenderness and same joy that will fill your own heart by 'giving.'

That second chance is Christmas 2010. The SoupMobile will be celebrating its 6th Annual Celebrate Jesus Christmas event. We will be 'giving' a magical Christmas to the homeless in the Dallas area. Would you like to be part of a 'giving' Christmas! Would you like to help the less fortunate! Would you like for your own heart to be filled with the joy that can only be received by 'giving.' For more details on how to volunteer at the SoupMobile this Christmas, go to www.soupmobile.org and click on CELEBRATE JESUS.

Remember, if you're not giving, you're not living!

May the Lord bless and keep you all.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan