Bless a Child this Christmas

The Westside Giving Tree provides an opportunity to come together as a community, bringing joy and delight to 100’s of children on Christmas morning. Through our partnership with multiple nonprofit and city organizations, we have identified children in real need. The Giving Tree represents those specific children and families.

El Árbol Generoso brinda la oportunidad de unirse como comunidad y llevar gozo y alegría a cientos de niños en la mañana de Navidad. A través del trabajo en conjunto con varias organizaciones sin fines de lucro y de la ciudad, hemos identificado a los niños con necesidades reales, y el Árbol Generoso representa a esos niños y familias específicas.

Our last Free Food Market of the year will be on November 22nd.

We have loved partnering with Neighbor Impact to provide groceries to our community in need. On Monday, November 22nd, from 1:30-2:30 we will host our final Free Food Market of 2021 in the Westside Church Atrium.

We will be distributing food to any individuals and families who need them. If you need some supplementary groceries or would like to pick up groceries for a neighbor in need, please come. Our Food Ministry allows for you to choose your own food items, and everybody is welcome! 

Westside is Hosting a Christmas Market

Saturday, December 4th, 9am-5pm in the Student Center

The Westside Christmas Market will feature over 20 local vendors offering hand crafted and unique gift items. This will be a festive community opportunity to connect with family and friends while shopping for Christmas gifts and other treasures. A fun Kids Craft Corner will make this event fun for the whole family!

Our partnership is helping homeless Vets in our community.

The Central Oregon Veterans Village is a community of transitional shelters designed to provide shelter and services for homeless veterans. This beautiful project of love is a joint venture between the Bend Heroes Foundation and Central Oregon Veterans Outreach (COVO). It is being managed as a public-private partnership with the City of Bend, Deschutes County, and the State of Oregon.

We were honored to partner with Furnish Hope, who provided all the furniture, bedding and decor for the completed houses. This Veterans’ Day, five veterans were able to move in! We look forward to all fifteen houses being completed in the near future.

Thank you for your faithful giving. We’re able to bless our community because of you!

A Life-Changing Mission Trip Opportunity

Spring Break Build Trip: March 20-24, 2022

Would you like to embark on a family-friendly trip from Oregon to Mexico to build homes for families in need of shelter? Bend2Baja2Build is getting ready for a Spring Break Build Trip. Families with kids, individuals, and community groups are all welcome!

It is with grateful hearts that we get to share with you a recap of our recent trip to Baja. Our small, but mighty team of ten helped build five homes! We spent three full days of building to help complete five new homes for families in need of shelter.  These five families spent time helping build each other’s homes alongside our team.  It was so rewarding to not only be a part of their community, but to watch them build bonds as neighbors.

– Karen Tobiason

Learn more and apply for the next Build Trip at Bend2Baja2Build’s website:

September 18, 9:00am-11:00am

This family-friendly 5k run/walk hosted by Westside Church benefits global outreach through our partnership with Bold Ventures.

Pro runner & pastor Mario Mendoza will headline the event, starting with the Run For the Nations 5k, followed by foot races & an awards ceremony, and ending with a raffle. We’ll have bounce houses for kids with local vendors for food & drink.

Come with your family, your community group, or on your own to get a new PR and support Bold Ventures’ ongoing efforts to reach unreached nations!

Saturday, August 28th, 11:00am – 1:00pm

This coming Saturday is our School Supply Giveaway Event!

This is a fun family environment that will include a hot dog bbq and other fun surprises. No registration needed and every child present will receive a cinch bag of age-appropriate school supplies.

If you know of a family who would benefit from receiving school supplies, or if it would be a help to you and your family, please join us in the Westside Student Center and Family Lobby area.

Thank You Westside!

It has been our JOY to partner with Cascade Youth and Family in helping youth obtain their Driver’s Licenses! Many young people that don’t have a good support system cannot afford driver’s education. They often don’t even have anyone to practice driving with! Because of your commitment to care for others, two young ladies this year have now gotten their Driver’s License, and two more youth are now in the process of lessons!

Read this beautiful thank you note from the Case Manager at Cascade Youth & Family:

These last six months, you have helped two individuals with the opportunity to take private drive lessons through High Desert Drivers Ed. I am happy to say that after their lessons, both these individuals felt confident enough to pass the driving test and get their license (a goal that seemed insurmountable to them before taking lessons). Now both individuals have been able to get better paying jobs they enjoy because they can travel further for their work. Not to mention they are both more stable in their housing due to their better paying jobs.

Thank you so much for Westside’s help!

Shelley Aube, Independent Living Program

Homelessness is a huge challenge in Central Oregon right now. Both the Veterans Village and the Bend Warming Shelter have asked for our help:

Central Oregon Veterans Village

The Central Oregon Veterans Village is a community of transitional housing designed to provide shelter and services for homeless veterans. The project is a Joint Venture between the Bend Heroes Foundation and Central Oregon Veterans Outreach (COVO). The village is in construction right now and a couple of retired or generous framers/carpenters would really be a Godsend to them right now. They have all the construction materials needed. If you can fill this need with your skills, click the link below to email the project director, Erik Tobiason.

I’ve Got the Skills

Bend Warming Shelter

The Bend Warming Shelter is traditionally a winter-only resource, but the City of Bend and the Shepherds House have expanded it year-round for 2021 to meet the current need while more permanent housing solutions are discussed. The Shepherds House has developed a meal train link and is asking for our help with meals. If your community group or family would like to provide a meal, please sign up at the link below.

I’ll Provide a Meal

Hi Westside Church! Earlier this month we sent out an i heart text asking for your help. A soon to be mom had just left an abusive situation and had nothing for baby boys arrival in June. She had secured housing, but needed a small crib, baby blankets, baby boy clothes, diapers, wipes, infant car seat, diaper bag, and baby swing.

Thank You SO much for helping us provide this brave new mom with everything she needed! Thank you for being a part of this i heart text ministry. We appreciate you! 

I HEART 365

I Heart 365 is our Outreach texting system! Short explanation? We send out needs via text, and you, upon receiving the text, have the ability to respond to those needs that resonate with you or that match a resource that you already have. (bicycles, extra coats, baby supplies, ect.) 

OK! So how does it work exactly? 
1. Trusted agencies, or one of our own Community Group leaders, calls Westside Church and asks if we can help with a specific need for a family or an individual.  
2. We send out a brief text describing the situation and the items needed. 3. Those who would like to respond bring their donations to the Westside Church office. 
4. Westside facilitates delivery of all of the donated items to the family or individual in need.

It’s that simple! And because I Heart 365 is a group of more than 800 people who want to help those struggling in our community,  there is never any obligation to respond to a texted need unless you feel inspired to.  Also, we intentionally only send out two I HEART 365 text needs a month, in order to choose prayerfully and facilitate well. 

To sign up for our I HEART 365 texting line, and start hearing about specific needs and opportunities to help, text ih365 to 313131.