Aglow Matteson Back-to-School Event

Aglow Generations' Matteson Single Mom's group continues to make a huge impact on their community!

The local Toyota dealership shared that "With school back in full swing, we're reflecting on the incredible impact of this year's Aglow Matteson Back to School Event. We were honored to partner with Aglow Matteson Single Moms and donate over 200 backpacks for their annual event, where students in the Matteson area received free school supplies to help them start the year off right. Thanks to Aglow's inspiring mission, local students returned to school confident, prepared, and excited for a brand new year of learning and growth." (Gerald Toyota Matteson)

Lisa J. White, who is one of the Aglow Matteson Single Moms’ group leaders, always provides fun games and activities for the children at their Aglow events. The children had an opportunity to fish for ducks, throw sticky balls onto a giant inflatable dart board, shoot hoops on the basketball game, play a giant connect 4, and more! This outreach provided bookbags, school supplies, and hot dogs for 200 children this year. In years past, this Back to School event has had a high impact on their community, serving 130-175 children annually since 2021.

With the Richton Park Fire Department located beside the Community Center, where the Generations Group has their back to school event, they invite them to participate each year. The children were in awe and asked a lot of questions of the firefighters. They learned a lot of fire safety rules and about the duties and responsibilities of the fire department staff. They also had a fun opportunity to sit in the fire truck and touch the equipment.

The Single Mom’s Generation Group currently has over 500 names on their mailing list and also utilizes Eventbrite (and Facebook local single mom groups) to email invitations to their events. They say that the most important and effective method of their success is that each one is bathed in prayer. This year, select members of New Covenant Assembly of Peach Church & Destiny Church volunteered as intercessors and showed up to offer prayer for the event, as well as any person who had requests or just wanted to cover their children in prayer. The leaders created a section where the intercessors were able to meet with people privately to offer words of encouragement and hope.

Matteson Single Mom’s Group reaches out to different businesses in their community, including their local Toyota Dealership, asking if they wanted to sponsor an event. After being directed to the Toyota Corporate Office, they have established a lasting relationship, and Toyota has been partnering with them every year since! Each January, Toyota gives the group $1,000 for the back-to-school event. Credit Unions, local insurance companies, grocery stores, church groups, Toys for Tots, and major retailers have all contributed to the Matteson Single Mom’s events. The Aglow leaders attend their local Chamber of Commerce monthly meetings and event, which has led to the Chamber of Commerce adopting their Aglow group as well as telling local business members about Aglow and what they are doing in the community. Wow!

Way to go, Matteson Single Moms' Generations group! Thank you for all the hard work and dedication to answer the Lord's calling to help your community each year. We thank the Lord for you!

And, if you are inspired by the work of this Aglow Generations group, may it be an encouragement to reach out to your own local communities to bridge the gap in similar ways! The Matteson Single Mom’s Group recommends that Aglow groups pray for God’s guidance. Talk with different people in your community- young people, single mom’s, young married mom’s, etc., and see what their needs are and what they are interested in.

Thank you, Matteson Single Mom’s Group! You are an inspiration and an example of what it means to Advance the Kingdom Forward in this New Era!