Caring for the orphan and the widow: Sophomore raises money with cookies

Home Features Caring for the orphan and the widow: Sophomore raises money with cookies

Following an idea born from a sleepless night and divine encouragement this past summer, Melika Willoughby is baking cookies to raise money for the Show Hope Project, an organization started by Steven Curtis Chapman.

“ God has given me a heart for adoption…I feel burdened to help now,” said Willoughby.

Following her motto, “step out of fear and fight,” Willoughby was inspired to help Show Hope.

“Show Hope is a ministry the enables individuals and communities to change the world for orphans by not only addressing a child’s need for food, shelter, care, and spiritual nourishment, but by also addressing the root issue for an orphan: the lack of a family,” according to the Show Hope website, www.showhope.org.

The organization addresses the issue of highly priced adoptions and how difficult it is for families who are pursuing adoption to sufficient funds. Chapman and his wife adopted three girls from China. Through this process, they saw time and time again families who were ready and able to provide homes for orphans–the only hindrance being the high price of adoption.

Chapman used his prestige as a well-known Christian muscician to create an organization that would help individuals and communities mobilize to help orphans and also to provide adoption grants for families willing to adopt but lacking the means.

Willoughby was drawn to this non-profit organization because the families who are part of the program have specific requirements before they are given the grants. All families who adopt sign a statement of faith and are married, Christian couples.

Willoughby said that many other adoption agencies put restrictions on adoptive families, such as requirements of being married for at least five years. Some organizations also give interest-free loans rather than grants, requiring the family to repay the organization for the financial assistance provided.

“We’re called to help the orphan and the widow. [The Bible] doesn’t say ‘loan her money so she can pay you back.’ I really wanted it to be a gift to enable a miracle to occur and something that could change a life,” said Willoughby.

Willoughby, along with a group of good helpers, has baked over 2,000 cookies. The cookies cost 50 cents apiece or you can get three for a dollar.  They are available in the lobby of most dorms on campus, excluding Mauck, McIntyre, and Niedfeldt.

The top selling dorms in order are Koon, Simpson, Whitley, and Galloway, with Koon leading in sales, said Willoughby.

Every Wednesday, Willoughby bakes 15 dozen cookies using her mother’s recipe which makes five dozen with every batch. The baking takes about two hours, and Willoughby is joined every week in her efforts by sophomore Rachel Bassinger.

“My dear grandmother knows much about my heart for adoption, understanding in a unique way my passion for these unwanted children. Seeking a way to come alongside my efforts, she gave me a KitchenAid mixer.  This addition has expedited our baking, enabling us to be more efficient.  It meant the world to me,” said Willoughby.

With the help of the mixer and Bassinger, sophomore Audrey Gray, sophomore Jonathan Lewis, freshman Ali Roth, and sophomore Abigail Wood, Willoughby was able to send a check to Show Hope for 540 dollars last semester.

Her goal is to fund an entire adoption grant. Each grant is 5,000 dollars.

Willoughby is thinking of new ideas to help reach this goal. She is hoping to find someone who will match funds and considering having some sort of competition between dorms. She has also started making personal deliveries to individual dorm rooms.

Anyone interested in helping Willoughby’s cause is encouraged to do so. She emphasized the need for people to help with delivering the cookies to dorms on Thursdays and picking up the empty containers on Wednesdays.

“I want to make this an enduring tradition at Hillsdale,” said Willoughby.

She plans to continue this project, reaching for the goal of supplying a full grant.

“I want to thank the campus. They’ve been so receptive,”   said Willoughby. “Keep going, keep eating the chocolate chip cookies, and keep saving lives.”

 

 

kdrapkin@hillsdale.edu