Please Consider a Gift to the SSI Financial Aid Fund

March 15, 2023

It’s a busy season for our ministry, and the SSI team is hard at work preparing for three weeks of the LEAD Summer Program. Already we’ve seen God at work through the record-breaking level of registrations! Student numbers are currently double what they were this time last year. However, with that blessing there is a rising need.

Each year, over 30% of our families struggle financially to send their teens to LEAD. This number has continued to increase in recent years, and as registrations continue to pour in, so do dozens of requests for assistance. We need your help; I am asking you to invest directly in these teens by supporting our Financial Aid Fund. Every gift, of any amount, goes directly to cover the registration costs for these families. To see the impact your support will have in the lives of students, please read our student testimony sheet.

The Financial Aid Fund is truly a partnership between you and our ministry. In our commitment to keeping our programs accessible, we have refused to increase our prices over the past four years, despite rising inflation. We have also continued to provide new ways to ensure that the families get the assistance they need so that every teen can experience a life changing, faith-building week of camp. This simply isn’t possible without support from you.

Here are just three of the many requests we have received this year:

“Cost of living increases have hit our family hard, as well as numerous unplanned medical expenses. We can’t afford it, but our teens love the fellowship and the opportunity for spiritual growth.”

 

 

“My husband is a full-time pastor…. We have four kids. With this scholarship, we will be able to send our son to camp.”

 

 

“We are a single income family of 6 and have medical bills from my wife’s cancer diagnosis last year. Not a lot of extra money to set aside.”

As we celebrate 30 years of ministry in 2023, it’s appropriate to look back on our “Legacy” as a ministry. In those 30 years, by the grace of God, no student has ever been turned away due to a lack of financial resources. This is nothing short of miraculous and is only possible because of generous and sacrificial giving from faithful friends like you. Just as the Israelites in Joshua 4, we want to remember the incredible things that God has done, the legacy He has built through this ministry. Today I’m inviting you to join us in continuing this legacy!

Last year financial aid requests totaled nearly $30,000. The need is great, but our God is greater. With less than 100 days until camp begins, I urge you to prayerfully consider making a difference in these students’ lives through a generous contribution of any amount.

Please, join us in leaving a lasting legacy by investing in these incredible young leaders.

For the next generation!

Joseph Cecil

SSI President & CEO