Banquet Report 4/25/13

We had a wonderful evening at our Banquet of Blessing last Thursday! The atmosphere was alive with 270 guests filling our warmly decorated hall at the RIT Inn & Conference Center. From Karen Webster's greeting music, through a delicious dinner and time of fellowship, to engaging ministry reports, gifted music, and an anointed message given by our guest speaker, Melinda Delahoyde (see bio below with player link to hear her message), the evening was covered with prayer and blessing. Special thanks go out to all who have served and supported His Branches over the past year!

For a taste of the evening, click on John Allison's arrow above to start a sample of the music John and his band shared with us. Then, while the music is playing, click on the slideshow arrow to see an overview of our ministries. You can let the inner geek in you show by making it full screen and then, if you have a very fast Internet connection, going to the gear in the bottom margin and selecting an even better screen resolution. Enjoy!

Speaker Melinda Delahoyde

A lifelong leader in the pregnancy center movement, Melinda Delahoyde was appointed President of Care Net in 2008. Melinda has worked with Care Net from its inception, serving in various roles both on staff and on the Board of Directors. She previously represented Care Net as Board Chair Emeritus after serving as Chairman of the Board from 2003-2006.

Melinda has been strategically involved in a host of non-profit organizations focused on life and bioethics issues. Before coming to Care Net, Melinda led the educational outreach for Americans United for Life. She originally joined Care Net to serve as the director of special projects before becoming a member of the Board of Directors.

Click the arrow in the player below to hear the message Melinda brought to our Banquet:



An accomplished writer, Melinda is author of Fighting for Life (Crossway Books, 1984), co-editor of Infanticide and the Handicapped Newborn (Brigham Young University Press, 1982), and contributing author to three additional books, including one with Christian philosopher Francis A. Schaeffer and another with top publisher Thomas Nelson. Her writings on life and bioethics have been published in a variety of publications and websites, including Christianity Today, Religion and Society Report, Moody Monthly, Christian Life, Outcomes, and WorldNetDaily.

Melinda is a sought-after spokesperson in the media on pregnancy centers and the emerging culture of life. She has been quoted widely by Associated Press, Christianity Today, TIME, WORLD, Gannett News, National Catholic Register, and Baptist Press and has appeared on CBN’s “700 Club,” Moody Radio’s “In the Market with Janet Parshall,” Salem Radio News, and Family News in Focus. She also was a featured panelist on the Annenberg Media Channel in a series on “Ethics in America.”

From her wealth of experience as a leader in the pro-life, non-profit arena, Melinda is well-respected among the broader faith-based community of organizations. In 2010, she was elected to the Board of Directors of Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).

Melinda graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and received a Masters of Arts in Philosophy of Religion from Trinity Divinity School. Melinda and her husband are from Raleigh, North Carolina and have four children.

Police Appreciation Breakfast

Nine Rochester Police Department officers assigned to the Westside were able to join us this morning for a Police Appreciation Breakfast hosted by the Arnett Block Association. Not only was the food varied and tasty, but the whole event was filled with gratitude for the men and women who serve our community so faithfully. After a time of feasting and sharing, several officers were dispatched to a call while the others were able to linger long enough to visit the Rochester Youth Outreach mural project down the hall. God bless you all!

Spring Grapevine

A Time of Growth

Our 4 branch ministries - Arnett Block Association, Embracing Options, His Branches Health Services, and Rochester Youth outreach - have been actively touching lives, thanks to the generous support of so many of you. From patient care to much needed activity for neighborhood youth and critical counseling in the area of life decisions, the staff and volunteers of HBI have been pouring their God-given passions into the work they do for their community. For a full report click here to read our Spring Newsletter, being sent to our local mailing list in print form this week.


ROC the Day on 12/12/12, doubled by our generous matching partners, has enabled us to completely update our aging computer network. Now we're looking forward to building our youth program, renovating out facility, partnering with others to make our neighborhood a safer place to live, and providing more medical and counseling services to people in need. Please consider supporting our upcoming Banquet of Blessing on April 25th at the RIT Inn and Conference Center. See post below for more information.

Spring Banquet of Blessing

 The Ministries of

His Branches, Inc.

Invite You to Our

Spring Banquet of Blessing

“A Celebration of God's Goodness”

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Seating begins at 6:30 pm

Dinner and Program 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

RIT Inn and Conference Center

5257 West Henrietta Road, Henrietta, NY

With featured Speaker

Melinda Delahoyde

Care Net President Emeritus

Click here to RSVP before April 17th

An opportunity to make a financial gift will be extended.

Dinner is complementary ~ Adults only as seating is limited ~ Semi-formal attire

Easter Egg Hunt in Park

Happy kids ready for the Hunt!

The weather was wonderful for our annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Arnett Bird & Butterfly Garden on March 30. Hosted by the Arnett Block Association and organized by our own Rora Rice, the Hunt was a great success! Rora starts buying up discounted plastic eggs right after Easter each year, then gathers over two dozen Easter baskets at garage sales throughout the summer. As winter starts to break up, she find bargains on all varieties of kid-friendly wholesome treats to pack the plastic egg cases with. It all comes together at the annual Gardener's Potluck the week before Easter when neighbors meet over dinner and dessert to plan for spring and summer community gardening and load goodies into the eggs. The Saturday before Easter, volunteers "hide" the eggs in the Park, a crowd of eager kids gathers (this year over 35!), and at 1 pm the hunt is on! Within 5 minutes all the eggs have been found, filling each kid's basket and heart to overflowing. This year, many of the children stayed afterwards to enjoy the sun and hear Arnett Library volunteer Barbara read stories to them in the Park. What a delightful community-building event!