Members of the LaSalle Street Church are each getting a $500 check which they can use in a positive or inspiring move as a way to return the good deed. The announcement was made on Sunday by Pastor Laura Truax.
The LaSalle Street Church in Chicago is a non-denominational church which has a long history of being involved in a number of social causes. These would include feeding families that have no homes and buying an ambulance for a Niger-based medical clinic.
After receiving $1.6 million from a deal in real estate, the church decided to distribute the 10 percent of the amount among the 320 regular attendees. That would mean distributing the amount of $160,000 to the regular attendees by giving each of them a $500 check.
The money will also go a long way as donations would surely be reaching distant places. These include Tanzania for an irrigation project and the Himalayas for a school project.
Truax said that the church members are doing exactly what she had envisioned them to do when she gave out the checks on that first Sunday in the month of September.
"I hoped that they would recognize the power they had to bless others and change somebody's life," said Truax. "I hoped that they would see their connection between their little piece and the bigger thing the church was called to do."
One of the recipients, Jonas Ganz, donated $450 to the Seven Hills Skate Park in Amman, Jordan while the rest was donated to World Vision, a Christian international relief agency.
Ganz and his friends are trying to earn $25,000 for the skate park. He was glad to be able to pitch in. While he knows that there are other important needs in life, doing good is definitely better than fulfilling one's personal needs.
"This project has the potential to have a lasting impact on the community," said Ganz.
Kristin Hu, a political science teacher at Lakeview High School, is donating the $500 to a Dreamer organization. She is also thinking about starting a scholarship foundation for the kids in her school which is a melting pot of ethnicities. She got her inspiration from her student Lucy after hearing her talk on how she and the other students had wanted to attend college but are not qualified to receive financial aid because of their immigrant status.
"They have amazing potential, but our country isn't investing in them the way they should," said Hu.
