Events
- 9/01/2005 - Liberty Disaster Relief is started by three local business leaders in response to Hurricane Katrina relief.
- 12/01/2005 - It becomes clear that there are all kinds of "Liberty" disasters in lives here in town. Doug Perry takes over the ministry and makes it a part of The Church of Liberty and links it to Fellowship Of The Martyrs, his own ministry.
- 05/01/2007 - Doug starts his YouTube channel (FOTM1) and starts putting out videos and publicizing his eight books.
- 07/01/2007 - Doug gets $135,000 donation from Australia. Because there is no homeless shelter in the Northland, we rent the first of the townhomes at Ashley Acres in Liberty to invite our neighbors in need to stay with us. Eventually we get up to six townhomes and about 50 people staying with us, plus others that moved here to help and own their own townhouse. We start a food pantry in the garage.
- 05/01/2010 - We're having big events in the city parks and outgrow the garage and rent space in the Garrison Center for our food pantry and offices. It is a nonprofit owned building/museum that was the Black school during segregation days. People have come from all over to be a part of the ministry.
- 06/15/2012 - We have our first big Christian concert -"Liberty In the Park." It's all free. A half dozen groups perform. We invite everybody we can from all the churches in town. Nobody shows. Cindy drives up to help with the concert and moves to Liberty from Texas.
- 03/20/2013 - A family staying with us is in a nasty custody battle and the dad kidnaps the four little kids in the night and takes then to Minnesota. Turns out that's a federal crime and his only excuse is that he HAD to do it because they were in danger. We end up on The Dr. Phil show and Our America with Lisa Ling - getting slandered and maligned. The Kansas City Star writes a slanderous article. The Board of the Garrison center immediately throws us out. By this point we've given away nearly 5,000,000 pounds of food into the local community and housed over a hundred at various times.
- 010/1/2013 - On faith, Liberty Disaster Relief gets a new location for the NEW Thrift Store AND the Food Pantry at 1114 Southview Drive, Building E, Liberty, MO 64068 - as well as warehouse space in the Rush Creek Caves for our Resource Depot and metal recycling operation.
- 12/14/2013 - The Thrift Store gets broken into when someone throws a rock through the front door glass. They only grabbed the cash drawer which just had change for the next day in it. But the glass on the front door cost $200! Please pray for them.
- 12/26/2013 - Liberty Police follow footprints in the snow and get video and physical evidence against the young man that robbed our store (and several other local businesses).
- 05/01/2016 - The Church of Liberty and Liberty Disaster Relief sign a deal on a 67 acre farm with a 20 acre limestone mine under it just North of Excelsior Springs. The vision is to move there to a village of tiny homes! Totally on faith.
- 05/01/2016 - Liberty Disaster Relief closes Southview Drive location. Focusing on the new Farm!
- 05/01/2016 - Zoning and all the neighbors flip out at our plans for the land. Two years of legal wrangling results.
- 08/01/2017 - God has a back-up plan! We get donated mobile homes at Majestic Hills Mobile Home Park in Excelsior Springs about six blocks from the farm. In August the last folks move out of the townhouses in Liberty. Cuts our costs in half.
- 10/15/2021 - We sign a lease for a 15,000 square foot space next to Orscheln (later Tractor Supply) in Excelsior Springs. The plan is to be open December 1!
- 10/15/2021 - The very same day that we look at the space and commit to the lease we get a donation of 900 pallets (35 semi trailers) of paper towels, toilet paper, sanitizer, disinfectant and other Covid stuff. The donation receipt is $3,000,000! The thrift store opens 12/10/21 after 8 weeks of trucking in the first donation.
- 7/4/2022 - We do our first "Week of FREEdom" where we put up our big tent out front and give away everything in it for a week.
- 03/01/2023 - Things are getting hard. Our pantry teams have been collecting food every day and giving it away. Inflation is hurting the poor. We add wholesale discount groceries to the thrift store to help folks save money.
- 07/4/2024 - Our "Week of FREEdom" turns into a "Month of FREEdom"!
- 11/15/2024 - We sign a renewal of the thrift store lease and add on 2400 square feet next door as our event center, soup kitchen, warming center, church space.
- 5/23/2025 - Our "Month of FREEdom" turns into a month at Memorial Day in May, a month at the Fourth of July and a month at Labor Day. What would happen if a little town really shared with each as they have a need? Maybe you could eliminate poverty. Maybe the world would notice. Maybe Jesus would smile.
