I am Linda Nolder. Our family moved to San Antonio from East Texas so that Craig and I could join the staff of NEISD schools in August of 1988. We began visiting Coker and our family joined the first Sunday of the year 1989. As Craig and I taught all day, and he coached until 8 in the evening, my time for many, many years after work was taking care of my children with transporting to sports and activities. So, my involvement in the church was mostly worship services for many years.
I met Lori 4 years after I began teaching when she joined our teaching staff at Northern Hills Elementary. We both were members of the same UMW circle, Faith and Hope, and worked together on many of those activities together. One of the first health and wellness projects that I began with Lori was the Angel Food Project. The more we got involved with that distribution, we realized that there were families from our school that needed help and we would purchase and deliver packages to some of our families each month. It was always a good Saturday knowing that God had touched not only our lives but the lives of some of our families.
When Angel Food ended and the food pantry opened, one of the projects that Mike and Sharon Ford started was the Backpack giveaway. Lori and I were very active in participating in this project and after several years, Sharon requested that someone take over heading this project. Lori, Barbara Keepers and I volunteered. It was God leading me in the direction of taking care of children, just like the ones I taught each day. Each year since then, our distribution has grown in numbers, and with those numbers, grew much needed time, energy, strength, patience, and creative ideas. And none of it would have happened without the gift that God always made sure there were those to help fund, help supply, help distribute, and help pray for our success. Each year we have learned and hopefully improved, and even this year, with Covid – we were still able to carry on with modifications and meet the needs of our children.
This project also got us involved with another similar project-the Angel Tree project. So in December, with the help once again of everyone, Lori and I head up the giving of gifts to our pantry children.
Being active in these projects has led me to be involved in many other areas of the church as well, each one showing me God’s abundant love. Giving my time has blessed me so much.
To donate to this year’s Coker Angel Gift Give-Away, Click HERE
To read Lori’s “I Am At Coker” Article, Click HERE
