Long Beach Rescue Mission Hosts Leadership Prayer Breakfast

The Long Beach Rescue Mission is hosting their 39th annual leadership prayer breakfast on Wednesday, Oct. 5 from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at 333 E Ocean Blvd. Attendees can pray, have breakfast and connect with other organizations who share similar causes.

“39 years ago we felt compelled to gather leaders throughout the city to pray for our city, recognizing our dependence upon God and our need for him as we seek to provide leadership to our community,” said Jeff Levine, executive director of the Long Beach Rescue Mission. The organization has existed since 1972 and provides food, clothing, shelter and spiritual guidance to those in need.

Levine has been connected to the Rescue Mission and the leadership breakfast for 16 years. He said he understands how important it is to recognize the positive impact local leaders have on the city and encourage one another to continue to do so. “It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate those who are leading well. It’s an opportunity for us to pray. We read scripture and we have a guest speaker,” said Levine.

This year’s guest speaker is Henry Walkler, a person who Levine said has overcome challenges while leading through a global pandemic and making sure small businesses and individuals had access to the resources they needed. Walker is the president of  Farmers and Merchants Bank, which is a bank that shows community support for a number of organizations, schools, religious denominations and various charities. According to fmb.com, the bank provided $3 million in community support to more than 690 organizations across Southern California.

The event will be honoring Bruce DD MacRae, UPS and Precious Lamb Preschool. “One of the greatest needs in our community is to provide early education to families who have children who are experiencing homelessness and Precious Lamb has been doing that for many years. I’m excited to recognize them as an organization,” said Levine. 

The preschool has been around for 20 years and provides faith-based education and care to children 18 months to five years old for free. Their mission is to use early education that promotes faith building and school readiness to strengthen positive change within families.

People can go online to www.lbrm.org and purchase an individual ticket or a table as an organization.

By Andrew Ayala