Hey Reader,

September was steady — and steady is exactly what we've been praying for after a season that asked so much of our whole church family.

We got the first of the new food-box deliveries out the door. Elizabeth threw open the Community Closet to our fellow nonprofits and blessed them with a truckload of good stuff for their neighbors. Kayla Duty from Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine showed up with what I can only describe as thousands of toiletries. And the Thursday Resource Hub kept doing what it does — the door swinging open, neighbors walking through, the meal getting served.

October, though? October is going to ask you to lean in.

September Recap

🧺 Nonprofit Closet Outreach

On September 19, Elizabeth Lykins threw open the doors of the Community Closet to our fellow nonprofit partners around Columbus — and gave away a ton of clothing, shoes, and household goods directly to them, so they could get it out into their own communities.

To be clear: this event was for nonprofit partners, not walk-in neighbors. The whole idea was to move overstock into the hands of orgs whose people we may never meet — but who are showing up faithfully in their own corners of the city.

In one day, we distributed 236+ lbs of clothing and bedding plus 25 pairs of shoes to 6 partner organizations across the city — including COMO3, 1DivineLine2Health, and Urban Resurrection Community Development Corp.

Elizabeth — thank you. This was her event start to finish, and it landed. The Closet keeps getting stronger under her leadership!

🚚 Food Deliveries are BACK

We officially relaunched food box deliveries in September under our new partnership with Victory Ministries / Center of Hope — and got boxes into the hands of 11 households on our very first run.

Every one of those boxes went to a neighbor whose situation makes it hard to leave home. That's the whole point. We're just getting started, and next month I want to double it. More on how you can help below.

🩺 A giant shout-out to Dr. Kayla Duty

Dr. Kayla Duty, representing the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine in Dublin, dropped off loads — I mean actually loads — of toiletries this past month. So many that we're still counting them.

Kayla, on behalf of every neighbor who is going to receive a bar of soap, a toothbrush, a bottle of shampoo, or a stick of deodorant this fall and winter — thank you. This is a serious blessing.

#️⃣ The Numbers

👤 27 unique neighbors + 56 total check-ins

👚 ~107 lbs of clothing

🧼 206 hygiene items

👟 8 pairs of shoes

🍽️ 56 hot meals

🚌 81 bus passes

Plus 11 households served in the new food-box delivery run, and a full truck of Closet goods sent out to nonprofit partners across the city.

October News

🗺️ NEW: Pick your food-box delivery route ahead of time

Something we've been quietly building: you can now go into the volunteer portal and see the actual delivery boxes on a map — by zip code — before you commit. Want to grab a route near your side of town? Want to stay within your comfort zone the first time out? You can.

Please go poke around at life2cbus.org/serve. Look at the map. Find a box that fits your window. Sign up.

🚚 October's food box delivery — Thursday, Oct 15

We got 11 boxes out the door in September. Let's stay consistent and show up for our neighbors so that we can be open to new families. Meet at the church, pick a route (map's in the portal), deliver a box to a neighbor. Sacred, simple work.

👉 Sign up for the Oct 15 delivery​

🩺 Free health screenings for our neighbors

Another shout-out to Dr. Kayla Duty — because she didn't just show up with toiletries. She also made the connection that's about to bring free health screenings to our neighbors at LIFE Vineyard Church.

We're finalizing the details now (specific dates still being dialed in), but here's the shape: medical students from the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine are going to come to us, to offer basic health services — no cost, no insurance required — to neighbors who might not otherwise have easy access to it.

A huge shout-out and thank-you to the students who are giving their time and skill to serve our community this way.

🏠 The Resource Hub Needs You

I'll be straight with you: volunteer numbers at the Thursday Resource Hub have been down. As we head into the harder months, we cannot let that hold. Every Thursday from 10 AM–2 PM there's a door to open, a plate to serve, a conversation to sit in.

Four Thursdays in October: Oct 8, 15, 22, 29. If you can only make one — make one. If you can make more, even better.

👉 Sign up for a Thursday shift​

👩‍🍳 Can you cook?

Every Thursday, Erin Ferguson cooks a hot meal for the ~40 neighbors who come through the Hub. She has been faithful and has a small team — but we can build an even stronger team.

If you're the kind of person who loves being in a kitchen — even once a month — please hit reply or email me at aaron@life2cbus.org. I'll personally connect you with Erin. This is a way to serve on Thursdays without necessarily being there during the event itself.

🎄 Christmas Store Sorting Event

We're down to a few slots for the sorting event. This is our very first serve opportunity on the road to Christmas Store 2026 — we'll sort and count all our toy and clothing inventory by age bracket and gender so we know exactly what we have before family sign-ups open. Two hours.

Grab a slot while they're still available.

👉 Sign up for the Oct 4 sort​

Here's what's happening this month:

👉 Sign up at life2cbus.org/serve​

Donation Needs Corner 🔧

Here's what we need most. If you can grab any of this on your next Target run — or rally your small group to take a category — drop it off at the church on a Sunday.

🧼 Sticks of Deodorant (highest need)

🪒 Men's + Women's Razors (highest need)

👟 Men's new or used shoes

👔 New or gently used men's clothing

Prayers + Praise

Names listed by initials only to protect privacy.

Pray With Us 🙏

Would you carry these with us this month?

• J — Pray that J takes the necessary steps toward earning his GED. Grant him focus, confidence, and every open door that would help him get there.
• N — Pray N enters a rehab program soon, and that the experience would be life-changing.
• B — Pray B finds the resources they need to stay safely housed through the winter — no one should have to weather it on the streets.

Praise Reports 🎉

• T — T is officially off the streets. No longer homeless — now living with family and moving in a healthier direction. Praise God for this new journey.

“In parable after parable, Jesus speaks of the ‘reigning of God’ using images drawn from farming and women’s work, not warfare and kings’ palaces. It is not described this coming from on high down to earth; it rises quietly and imperceptibly out of the land. It is established, not by armies, and military might, but by an ineluctable process of growth from below, among the common people.” -Walter Wink

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out via email: Aaron@LIFE2Cbus.org

Aaron Ellington

Founder/Director

​LIFE2Cbus​

"Faith without [servanthood] is dead."

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