Annette Hale is the main reason the Mount Pleasant Seventh-day Adventist Church raised almost $25,000 for ingathering in 2025.
Hale began ingathering in 1956 shortly after marrying her husband, Ed, who had recently returned to the Adventist faith. Ingathering was an important part of church life, and she began helping raise funds before she was even baptized. The ingathering bug bit her, and the rest is history.
After settling in Mount Pleasant, Hale became the church's ingathering director. Through her husband's electric company, she became acquainted with many local business owners. Beginning in the 1970s, she expanded her fundraising efforts beyond friends and family, building relationships that continue to this day.
Over the years, Hale has accumulated countless stories from decades of ingathering. She has walked every block of Mount Pleasant, Daingerfield, and DeKalb, Tex., raising money for community ministry. She ingathered alone in Chicago while her husband attended electrical school, trusting God to keep her safe. She has prayed before entering yards with dogs and has never once been chased or bitten. She even recalls one unforgettable visit when she knocked on a door, received no answer, and discovered the homeowner had passed away in his chair. She immediately called the police, and thankfully, she never experienced anything like that again.
On June 3, 2000, at the Keene camp meeting, Hale received an ingathering award recognizing more than 40 years of service.
David Barrett, the church's head deacon, now drives Hale to visit her contacts each December. She greets donors she has known for years while Barrett explains how their gifts support local community service projects. Last year, he showed photos from the church's vision and dental clinics, and several donors increased their gifts after seeing the impact of their support. Hale is thanks many of her generous donors with homemade pecan brownies, pecan pie, banana nut bread, and handmade pillowcases.
Since 1956, Hale has missed only two years of ingathering. She says God gave her the talent to meet and talk with people, and that He goes before her to inspire others to give. After nearly 70 years of raising funds, she is still going strong and plans to continue "as long as the Good Lord gives me strength to do it."
The Mount Pleasant church's ingathering total for 2025 was $24,975. Donations Hale solicited from family, friends, and business contacts totaled $23,295—more than 93 percent of the church's total.