Kindness Carnival raises money for flood relief

Haven Campus Church (NSW) hosted a “Kindness Carnival” fundraiser for ADRA Australia on June 28. The carnival raised more than $A8500 for ADRA’s NSW mid-north coast flood response.

The Kindness Carnival was inspired by the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). A month earlier, Pastor Jack Ryder offered four envelopes containing $A100 to anyone who wanted to take on the challenge to try and multiply their “talent”. The intention was that the money be used to make a difference in someone’s life.

“The four individuals who took the challenge decided to pool their resources for the Kindness Carnival,” said Brenton Luchow, ADRA Australia’s Church Engagement Officer. “They decided that any funds raised would go to supporting ADRA’s mid-north coast flood response and disaster relief fund.”

Bec Clarke, Suzan Abel, Nick Dunstan and Logan Lorentz took on Pastor Ryder’s challenge. Together with the support of family members Tia Abel and Adele Lorentz, the team began to brainstorm ideas.

Ms Abel said, “As we began bouncing ideas around, we realised we could do so much more together with our $400 church investment than we could on our own. That little challenge grew into something much bigger—a full-blown community event, with fresh pizzas, a buzzing op shop, face painting, live music, and so much heart.”

Approximately 500 people turned out for the Kindness Carnival.

“The night was full of life,” said Ms Abel. “More than 180 made-from-scratch pizzas sold (and completely gone in under two hours!), more than 200 op shop items found new homes, and 60 little faces were painted with colour and joy.”

The Parable of the Talents emphasises that God can multiply the impact of a gift used for Him, which participants said is what they experienced with the Kindness Carnival.

“We experienced blessing after blessing in the process, not least that the weather held off just long enough for us to keep the event outdoors,” says Ms Abel. “Early on, we realised our budget wouldn’t come close to covering food costs, so we put the call out to the church, and they responded immediately! Donations started flowing in and, within 12 hours, the cost of one of our biggest ingredients, cheese, was completely covered!”

The involvement of 64 volunteers contributed to the smooth running of the event.

“We can honestly say our Kindness Carnival fundraiser was more than we imagined, and such a joy to be part of. It was heartwarming to see our church family come together in full force to fill needs, serve our community, raise money, and have a great deal of fun doing it!” said Ms Abel.

The fundraiser also provided an opportunity for Haven Campus Church to connect with their local community.

“Our musicians all gave of their time freely, but a special shout-out goes to Rare Treats, who aren’t part of our church community and are usually booked out on Saturday nights,” said Ms Clarke. “When they saw our last-minute request, they checked their calendar—miraculously free—and quickly agreed to play for us on a zero-dollar budget. After the event, they shared that while they’re not religious, something felt right about the community atmosphere at the carnival.”

If your church would like to run a fundraiser for ADRA, get in touch by emailing <[email protected]> or call 1800 242 372.

This article was originally written for and published by the Adventist Record.