A Generous Partnership with Forefront Church

Nomi Network was a part of Celebration Generosity 2015, an initiative by Forefront Church in New York City that donates a collected offering to three organizations who are serving others and restoring hope.

In the spring of 2015, Nomi Network partnered with Forefront Church in New York City for its annual Celebration Generosity campaign. Each year, the church's Manhattan and Brooklyn locations come together to dedicate one Sunday to give their entire offering to other organizations. Forefront picks three organizations each year, and for Celebration Generosity 2015, Nomi Network was one of those groups, along with Defy Ventures and Orchard Group – Restoration Church.

On Sunday, April 12, Forefront introduced Nomi Network to its congregation, as board members Scott Austin and Sarah-Jane Murray spoke in Brooklyn and Manhattan, respectively, and the church debuted a video its team created for the event (see below).

CELEBRATION GENEROSITY | Nomi Network from forefront church on Vimeo.

Additionally, Nomi products were available to purchase and other volunteers and Young Executive Board members were on hand to explain more about the organization and spread the word about Nomi Network. Forefront has had a connection with Nomi Network since its founding, with volunteers from the Forefront Community helping the organization in many ways, including serving as ambassadors and members of the Young Executive Board.

“Forefront has been partnering with Nomi in various ways since they were founded in 2008, so when it came time to decide our Celebration Generosity organizations for this year, it was because of these strong relationships that made giving to Nomi an easy choice,” said Jennifer Fisher, the Brooklyn Associate Pastor for Forefront.

Later that month, after the other two organizations had their Sundays to shine, the entire church community—and their friends and family—came together for the Celebration Generosity Gala on April 30. The money from the tickets and the raffle contribute to the final Celebration Generosity pot and each organization was represented at the event, with a table set-up and time to speak in front of the crowd.

"Because of our ongoing partnership with Forefront Church, I felt a profound sense of authenticity when we were approached to collaborate with them on Celebration Generosity this year," said Nomi Network Co-Founder Alissa Moore-Williams. "From graphic designers, to volunteer sales ambassadors, to website programmers, the members of Forefront have consistently given of their time and talent to help our organization grow. In this way, Celebration Generosity felt a natural next step in our partnership."

On Sunday, May 3, members of Forefront Manhattan and Forefront Brooklyn filled the seats and after time for worship, a sermon from lead pastor Jonathan Williams, and prayer, the church took up its Celebration Generosity 2015 offering. In the end, Forefront Church donated $23,022 to Nomi Network, and we are so grateful to have been a recipient of this generosity and love in 2015!

"We are grateful to be featured in this campaign and even more grateful to simply celebrate how powerful an act of generosity can be when it comes from the heart and a place of trust," Moore-Williams added.

The funds raised from Celebration Generosity will be a part of Nomi Network's current fundraising push to build our own facility in India and also purchase land on behalf of the women we work with in that country.

“Having a solid, tangible goal, knowing that our gift will go towards funding a residence for the women of Nomi made our campaign much more successful,” Fisher added. “We love the founders of Nomi and their entire network. We're thrilled to get to partner with them in the incredible work they do to bring renewal and restoration to our world.”

Thank you to the entire community and staff at Forefront Church, including Jen Fisher, Senior Pastor Jonathan Williams, and Creative Director Matthew Kern. We were honored to be given this opportunity.

-written by Kimberly Maul Green, chair of the Young Executive Board

Photo credits: Matthew Kern, Forefront Church

Thanks to @ForefrontNYC @ForefrontBk @ForefrontMH for having us be a part of #CGNYC15 Read more about our partnership: LINK to our post