"One evening an older man came to the door with friends asking for a meal and as I reached behind me for a few bagged lunches I asked him, 'How many do you need?'

    He held up his hand to stop me and replied, 'Slow down and wait one minute; what kind of music do you like?'

   Confused, I thought about it for a minute and told him I liked Doo Wop. Next, he wanted the name of my favorite band. Not knowing the direction the conversation was going I leaned back against the door frame and told him, The Pretenders.

   Suddenly, out of nowhere, came this beautiful music as he started to sing to me. When he was done he told me, 'I wouldn't take anything from you until I could give you something in return.' Later, I found out he had been a musician with a band that traveled world-wide but had fallen on hard times. From that first day forward, whenever he came to the emergency shelter and I was volunteering, he sang me a song in return for his supper; it was a profound experience," recalled Ray Dunn.

Ray Dunn and his grandson at the 2011 golf tournament.

   Dunn, a member of the Board of Directors and long-time supporter started volunteering about 13 years ago when the son of a close friend wanted to do community service at Lazarus House. At the same time his company - with 9,000 employees - had just gone public and Dunn was working day and night; it was a very stressful time. Unable to say no, he soon found himself cooking, cleaning, doing laundry and handing out meals on the Monday 8 p.m. - midnight shift.

   "On my volunteer night," shared Dunn, "I would go into the shelter with the weight of the world on my shoulders, spend a few hours interacting with the women and children at the shelter and realize how little these business matters meant. The next day I would go into work and someone would be complaining about something and I would say to them, 'let me tell you what these people at the shelter are dealing with.' It gave me a totally different perspective about my life and I think, at the time, it benefited me far more than what I was giving to the people at the shelter."

   Through his work at the shelter Dunn became very close to Shelter Coordinator, Shaun Logan. Logan approached him about sponsoring the upcoming golf tournament. "I think that year we might have raised about $10,000 and the space was so small that all the golfers couldn't even fit into the clubhouse," said Dunn, "but it was a great event, people enjoyed themselves, there was a sense of celebration and everyone thought it was a fantastic way to raise money for Lazarus House." Ever-evolving and expanding the event is now held at the Andover Country Club and is known as one of the premier golf tournaments in Massachusetts, in total, raising over the years more than $1.75 million! 

 What a day for the Ministry on Monday . . . less than one month after officially kicking off our first ever capital campaign.

• One of our campaign donors, who had attended the Campaign Kick-off event on May 22, let us know that he was so impressed that he doubled his campaign pledge to $30,000.
• Previously, two senior level officers of The Savings Bank took a tour and then recommended to Brian McCoubrey, CEO that he meet with the campaign team. That meeting resulted in the bank committing $50,000 pledge.
• Our mailbox had good news that day as well, with several more responses to our campaign direct mail appeal. More than 100 people have contributed to the Campaign for Dignity since the public announcement.
• Also, on "Momentum Monday" the Rogers Family Foundation informed us of their $255,000 pledge to the Campaign for dignity; an amount that exceeded our request. 

We have raised more than $3.6 million to date . . . almost $500,000 in just the last four weeks*. Momentum is indeed continuing to build. How can you create a few more "Momentum Mondays" and perhaps a "Terrific Tuesday" now and then?

1. Consider a thoughtful, prayerful multi-year pledge.
2. Host a reception in your home to spread the word about the campaign's impact.
3. Arrange for us to do a presentation to your civic, religious or social group.
4. Display a campaign lawn sign in a prominent location.
5. Wherever, and whenever, you are able to do so . . . talk about Lazarus House and the Campaign for Dignity . . . so that we can serve more of God's people in more ways.