Local Mom Uses Church Challenge to Help Family in Need

Dublin resident Lisa Clark started with $100 and a challenge: to multiply that money and help someone in need.

On Aug. 20, the mom of three hopes to raise more than $1,000 with a fundraiser at Dublin trampoline park . She plans to donate the money to a woman whose husband passed away last month.

“I didn’t want to give it to an organization,” said Clark. “I wanted it to be a family, ideally someone who had young children like myself.”

It all started with a project at Clark’s church.

Clark’s pastor at Centerpoint Presbyterian gave her and 15 other volunteers $100 each, and challenged them to multiple the money and donate the final sum to a person or organization of their choice.

“[Our pastor] told us the entire project was in our hands,” said Clark. “This was God’s money, and we needed to give it to someone.”

Clark set about finding a family who needed help. With three young children under 5 years old, her goal was to find someone with a similar family setup. But she said she started “stressing” after one month went by and she still hadn’t found someone.

“The biggest challenge was finding somebody in the community,” said Clark.

Clark heard about Janine Moreno, a Morgan Hill resident whose husband Craig was at Stanford Medical awaiting his second heart transplant. The couple, who have an 8-year-old son, were struggling to make ends meet.

Moreno’s story resonated with Clark.

“[Craig] is the exact same age as my husband,” said Clark. “Her family situation could happen to anyone.”

The two women spoke on the phone and “really connected,” said Clark.

In July, soon after Clark had sent out invitations for the fundraiser, Craig lost his battle with congestive heart failure. Clark said his death makes the fundraiser even more important.

Clark said she hopes to bring in $3,000. Both her company and her husband’s have promised to match 100 percent of the total donation.

Clark said her children are “super psyched” about her project.

“They understand what I’m trying to do,” she said.

Clark is yet to meet Moreno, and plans to personally hand over the money once it’s been tallied up.

This is the first time Clark has taken on such a project, and initially it proved daunting, she said.

“At first it was totally intimidating and overwhelming,” said Clark. “But once I heard from Janine and the gratitude she felt that we would put forth so much energy and time for her, it makes it totally worth it.”

The event starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20. A $15 donation will get you an hour of jumping followed by drinks and snacks. Rockin’ Jump will donate 60 percent of all proceeds to the Moreno family.