Author: Mary Kate

Mary Kate

Summer Life Support Events

Get ready for the fun summer activities we have planned for everyone to enjoy while supporting LIFE this July and August!

If you are ages 18-30, please join us at our 2nd annual Young Adults’ Bowling Night on Tuesday, July 11th from 7:30pm-10:30pm. Experience unlimited bowling, pizza, shoes and special prizes at Holiday Bowl, located in Oakland, NJ. Sign up as an individual or as a team. One team of 6 amounts to one life-saving ultrasound! $20/person pre-paid or $25/person at the door. Tickets and more details are available here.

Craving Mexican food? Bring your family, friends or small group for lunch or dinner on Tuesday, July 25th at Blue Moon Mexican Café in Wyckoff & Englewood. Lighthouse PRC will receive 20% of your receipt to save and change lives! Just bring the printed flyer with you! Gift Cards, take-out, delivery & catering included!  Download the flyer here.

Pizza anyone? Enjoy lunch or dinner at California Pizza Kitchen in the Garden State Plaza (Paramus) or Willowbrook Mall (Wayne) on Monday August 9th.  With the printed flyer 20% of your receipt will be donated to Lighthouse. Can’t make it that day? Don’t’ worry, gift Cards and take-out are included too!  Download the flyer here.

The Signs of Life Fundraiser illustrates your creativity and gives Lighthouse 15% of all signs ordered throughout July & August. Pick your custom saying, size, colors, and unique style while bringing love to LIFE! For inspiration and to see some of the custom signs available, visit the Restoring Traditions Facebook page.  Order forms are available here.

Don’t miss out on these fun summer events! We can’t wait to see you there! Remember, your participation provides the vital services and support to those experiencing a pregnancy crisis or other related concerns. Thank you for saving and changing lives this summer!

Mary Kate

Spring Open House Provides Friends with a Look Inside Lighthouse

We were pleased to greet many new and old friends of Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center at our Wayne Center Open House on May 21!  Guests were impressed with the professionalism and comfortable welcoming atmosphere.  Because of our location on the back side of the 2025-2035 Hamburg Turnpike office complex, we have a confidential setting for those needing privacy as they seek help. The newly opened center has helped us extend our free services to a new area of Northern New Jersey and Passaic County, spreading out the reach of our three locations.

Guests enjoyed cake and other refreshments from Shop Rite of Oakland, and delicious snow cones from The Jolly Trolley, after touring our newest facility.  We were excited to share with them the spacious welcome area, ultrasound room, multiple counseling rooms, and a well-stocked material services room (our PREP Shoppe for new parents!) – furnished with some of our Hawthorne seating plus new pieces from our friends at Ashley Furniture HomeStore. Our expanded receptionist area – which doubled our desk space – made a great gathering place for guests!

We are so grateful to the Lord and to Florence Christian Home Center for the amazing provision of Suite L on Hamburg Turnpike. The reduction in our facility expenses is allowing us to reallocate our resources to save and change more lives. The one need we have is for more storage, as we lost our basement space in the relocation from Hawthorne, and are currently working on creative solutions. As we address our storage shortage, we have asked friends to hold onto their gently used clothing and larger material donations for May and June. We will let supporters know via Facebook when we are accepting these items at Rea Ave in Hawthorne again.

A huge thanks goes to Liz, Theresa and our Wayne Center staff and volunteers for their hard work behind the scenes to make the Open House possible!

If you are interested in volunteering at our Wayne Center, please contact Mary Kate at events@lighthouseprc.org or 973-238-9047 x10. Most office volunteer projects happen on Tuesdays and Fridays, when we are closed for client services. Please be aware that we strive to maintain a confidential setting on the other weekdays.

We so appreciate the continued support of donors who partner with us to save and change lives each day. Your generosity provides free life-enhancing services to those facing unplanned pregnancies, parenting struggles and other related concerns. Thank you!

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Mary Kate

CHANGE CHANGES LIVES…

Picture4As the leaves on the trees begin to mature and the spring blooms shoot from the ground, we are also celebrating new life at Lighthouse!  We are blessed to report a record year of courageous choices by those who received our life-affirming support in 2016.

Because of your generous partnership, last year we were able to serve more than 1,800 women, men and teens in our Wayne, Hackensack and Paterson centers and help bring 441 babies into the world (up 36% from 2015!).  Through your prayers and financial and material support we have been able to accomplish these great things.  Thank you for being part of God’s loving work at Lighthouse!

Spring also means the start of our annual Baby Bottle Boomerang on Mother’s Day.  This campaign is not only a practical, easy way for every member of your church or school to provide valuable life support to parents in need, it also helps spread the word about Lighthouse’s free services.  Last year, your participation allowed us to raise more than $74,000 – which equaled one month of life-enhancing services at ALL of our centers and in local schools.

This year, we ask that you pray with us for an even greater outpouring of support – enough to cover an entire summer of saving and changing lives!

The 2017 Baby Bottle Boomerang works like this:  We supply your church or school group with wrapped baby bottles to be distributed on or after Mother’s Day (choose the date that works best for you!) and returned to you by Father’s Day (June 18).  We ask that bottles be filled with change, cash or checks to provide valuable life support.  We offer a 3-minute video featuring several brave moms, or a staff member, on Distribution Day or another time, to share about the lives being saved and changed through your partnership. Other promotional items are offered – all at no cost – and materials are available in Spanish.

Please call Mary Kate in our Wayne office, 973.238.9047 x10 or email her at events@lighthouseprc.org to participate in our Baby Bottle Boomerang.

Our Lighthouse family and the families we serve appreciate your continued prayers and support.  Thank you for helping parents be brave so children will be loved!

Mary Kate

A Mother’s Day to Remember

Liz UltrasoundMother’s Day is fast approaching and at 22 weeks and 4 days into my pregnancy, I am experiencing all sorts of feelings.  This is definitely a Mother’s Day to celebrate and to reflect on God’s grace and his love for me.  Mother’s Day reminds me of my three beautiful children and how precious they have been throughout the years.  I remember all the things they’ve made for me, flowers they’ve picked for me, and cards they so carefully decorated.  I’m happy to recount all of those great memories, plus the new ones that are being made every day when I feel my developing daughter’s kicks, and see my belly expanding.  I’m also celebrating the fact that there are so many cool pregnancy apps out now, that they didn’t have 12 years ago.  I get updates on her size, weight, and other milestones on my smart phone daily.  I know that as of today, she is the size of a spaghetti squash, weighing in at approximately one pound.  How cool is that?

I also have other feelings, after a long tiring day or after hearing an infant cry at work.  I feel excited, anxious, nervous, happy, and at times sad (blame it on those pregnancy hormones!) – sometimes all in the same day!  I have so many circulating questions. …  Am I ready after 12 years to have another active little one around the house?  Will my house accommodate this new little one and all the things she needs?  Will I be able to do the long nights of little sleep and long days of chronic fatigue?  Is my body going to bounce back after a C-Section at my advanced maternal age of 41?  How will our family who is set in their ways, sleep times, and schedules, manage the unpredictable timing of a newborn and her own baby hours?  Will my older children look at her as a blessing or as a bother?  Will my landlord give us notice that our small apartment cannot house another little human?

I can’t answer all of these questions, but I can turn to the One who can help us through.  The One who knew this baby would be born and chose us as her family.  The One who knew this baby would complete our family, and who also knows that if I trust in Him, He will equip me to handle all my fears and concerns.  Just as He calms the storms of my worries, He will prepare me to be the best possible mom to my fourth child because He loves this baby and her life matters to Him.

We are all precious in our Father’s eyes!  My baby girl is no different and I thank Him for this opportunity to be a mom again, despite my fears.  He knows me well, and He knows my fears even before I pray about them so for that I can rest assured that He will provide for all of our needs.  He always has!

Happy Mother’s Day!  May God bless you, calm your storms, and guide your paths through parenthood while providing the peace only He can offer.

– Liz Lopez, Center Support Coordinator for Lighthouse Pregnancy Resource Center

Mary Kate

2017 Banquet Recap

IMG_0162“It takes a village to raise a child.” – African Proverb

At Lighthouse we know it takes a community of support – the Body of Christ – partnering together to make it possible for parents facing unexpected pregnancies under difficult circumstances to choose life.  And once moms and dads choose life, they need continued support from the Church to thrive – not just survive – as they care for their newborns and raise children to adulthood.

This past March at our annual fundraising banquet, we were blessed to have 861 people join us to celebrate and support the courageous choices for life made by Lighthouse parents. We are also thankful that over 60 churches were represented at this year’s event, from many denominations. We are thrilled to see Lighthouse serve as a unifying cause that brings churches from different communities and backgrounds together as a force for good and for sharing God’s love. This is a practical expression of compassion in response to a critical need in our world.

In John 13:35, Jesus says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

With over 44,000 abortions taking place in New Jersey each year, there is no denying that there is still a great need for the compassionate, life-enhancing services we offer confidentially and free of charge.  In addition, many of the women who do carry to term, face the challenges of parenting alone, without the support of a committed partner, or without family support to lighten their load.

That being said, we are so thankful for the love, prayers and sacrifices of our courageous supporters, as you bravely contribute to help individuals overcome fear in the midst of trials and difficult decisions. Your support is a practical expression of Christ’s love, and it is making a significant impact in the lives of women, men and children in need.

Thank you for being the hands and feet of our risen Savior, bringing light and life to a hurting world.

To view pictures of the event, click here.  If you visited our photo booth, click here to find your picture.