A church in Ohio recently raised approximately $10,000 as part of an annual charity drive in order to help its neighbors pay their water bills.

Several families in Pickerington called their water company and learned to their surprise that their water would not be shut off this month because of the charitable efforts of Grace Fellowship Church. Beth Shively, spokeswoman for Grace Fellowship, told The Christian Post that the payments for water bills of those in the neighborhood were part of her church's annual "Giving It Back" campaign.

"Through this campaign, we choose a few organizations or needs and ask our church to generously respond to these needs during December," said Shively. "The mayor of Pickerington, Lee Gray, attends our church, and he brought to our attention that each month many families are scheduled to have their water turned off for non-payment. Our elder board decided this would be an excellent way for us to give back to our neighbors." more >>

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. – It appeared that Scott "Scooch" Miller was winning his battle over the demons that plagued him as a U.S. military veteran of the Vietnam war, at least in part, thanks to his relationship with a Christian homeless ministry serving in South Orange County, Calif. However, he remained homeless, still struggling with alcoholism, while spending nights sleeping in a field next to a famous surf spot until his death two weeks ago.

At a memorial service given by the ministry last Sunday, Christian leaders at a park in the pristine, primarily affluent community of San Clemente were struggling to wrap their minds around the question of why Scooch died in the bushes at "Trestles," alone one night, apparently from the cold during a night of freezing temperatures.

During a moment of reflection at the service on the life of Scooch, the "ornery" man who began to turn soft after accepting Jesus into his life, some in attendance spoke of feeling like they could have done something to prevent his death and that something more should certainly be done for the homeless in the area – especially now. more >>

WASHINGTON – The Presidential Inauguration recognized the "National Day of Service" Saturday by promoting volunteerism with events across the country. Participants are asked to commit their time to one of the many causes highlighted. The event in Washington, D.C., featured nonprofit groups and government organizations promoting, among other things, fatherhood, nutrition, and care for the poor, homeless and at-risk youth.

Nearly 100 organizations were represented at the D.C. event. They were divided into the categories of community resilience, economic development, education, environment, faith, health and veterans. While many well-known national organizations were represented, such as the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, Habitat for Humanity and Salvation Army, it was also an opportunity to learn about the work of smaller and less popular organizations.

The event also included music by Ben Folds and Star Jones, co-host of ABC's "The View," was one of the speakers. Jones spoke on behalf of the American Heart Association. more >>

Water Missions International, a nonprofit Christian engineering organization, is launching its second annual Water Sunday project, which seeks to connect hundreds of churches across America to help with a global safe water program that will help impoverished communities worldwide.

During their campaign last year, Water Missions raised over $100,000 dollars and received the help of more than 30 churches nationwide, who pooled together efforts and resources to help raise money and promote the important cause. The group is calling on participating churches to set aside one Sunday in March 2013 to come together and once again hold a fundraiser for the safe water projects, which involve developing treatment systems.

"Many resources are available to make sure a church is fully equipped for a Water Sunday program that is transformational its congregation. It's a user-friendly mission that presents a tangible opportunity for a church to get involved with meeting the most basic human need – safe water," Kevin Herr, the Church Engagement Coordinator at Water Missions, shared with The Christian Post. more >>

Chris Heuertz understands the importance of community. Once mentored by Mother Teresa, he has spent nearly 20 years helping some of the world's most vulnerable and impoverished people in communities around the globe. Communities, like people, are messy and have their problems, but it's in that mess that Heuertz says there are "unexpected gifts" to be discovered.

His new book, Unexpected Gifts: Discovering the Way of Community, reads as both informative and confessional, as he exposes even some of his own failures to illuminate the importance of lovingly dealing with hard issues in a community.

"I actually think that all of the things that are real tough about relationships or friendships or community are actually what makes it worth staying ... We shouldn't always stay for the sake of staying, but I think that it's like a gift component: a lot of the reasons we leave are in fact invitations to stay," Heuertz told The Christian Post on Friday. more >>

If you were a casual observer of our culture, you'd assume that the progressives are the ones full of compassion. But is that really the case?

Here we are with our politicians wrangling back and forth on the economy, the deficit, taxes, tax cuts, entitlements, and so forth. Much of the debate really gets back to taking care of the less fortunate.

A few years ago, I interviewed Dr. Arthur Brooks, president of American Enterprise Institute and author of the book, "Who Really Cares." He has researched charitable giving for many years. more >>