The Lent Giving Campaign at PLNU is doing more than car washes and lemonade stands to raise money for charity. The campaign is providing chickens to the LoveWorks hosts in Armenia, in an effort to help 18 families. The campaign has already received 178 donations since Feb. 25. The idea for the chickens came from the Loveworks hosts in Armenia.
“[The hosts] asked us to help them provide more chickens to families already in an agricultural project through the church,” said Brian Becker, director of International Ministries. “The families already have 10 chickens each and…the families asked for 10 more chickens each to increase the economic benefit to their households.”
Although sacrificing plays a huge role in Lent, Becker believes there is another aspect that is not stressed enough. “Lent is a time for fasting, which gives us more time for prayer, and through prayer, Christ motivates us to give alms to the poor,” said Becker. “The giving part often gets left out these days.”
This is PLNU’s fourth year doing a campaign for charity and this year there goal to raise $7,200 in chickens.
“It is an awesome opportunity for us students to sew into the Kingdom of God by blessing those people with chickens,” said Riley Verner, ASB director of Spiritual Life. “The ability to have, say, two chickens instead of one can double the income for a family.”
The chickens, while important, are not as important as the eggs produced.
“The chickens are purchased for the eggs so the Armenians can use the eggs. We are raising money for the egg value not the chickens,” said Milton Karahadian, director of Nicholson Commons.
Despite the good cause of the campaign, PLNU is having a hard time getting people involved in the cause.
“It is terribly hard to get people’s attention and to hold onto it long enough to motivate them to act,” said Becker. “We struggle to get people’s attention to [get] them to give.”
When people donate $20 for the Chickens to Armenia campaign, they will receive a pair of chicken socks or a t-shirt for as long as supplies last. While only donations of $20 will receive a gift, any donation amount is welcomed.
“I think it’s classy that PLNU is taking this time and this opportunity as a campus to better our international programs,” said Brittany Abel, a freshman business major.
The Lent Giving Campaign: Chickens for Armenia, will continue until Easter Sunday. Offerings will be collected in Chapel and announcements about the number of chickens that have been raised will be announced every Wednesday in Chapel.
To get involved, students can join a Lent committee to help raise money chickens for Armenia, they meet Wednesday nights from 5 p.m.-6 p.m. in the Caf.
“Volunteer to help us plan the campaign for next year. Give and encourage others to give,” Becker said.
