It's hard to know where to begin! So much was accomplished on the campus at Addams and in the neighborhood on Saturday, April 2nd, as hundreds of volunteers from Northwest Church set out to say "WE CARE ABOUT YOU!" The message came through loud and clear!
The morning was spent doing a multitude of service projects! You could see people removing weeds and tall grass across the street from the school. Another team went out to paint addresses on the curbs in front of houses, others checked smoke detectors and gave out energy efficient light bulbs.
At a nearby mobile home park several construction crews repaired unsafe stairs and wheel chair ramps for residents with disabilities.
Another crew resurfaced the basketball court/play area which was too unsafe to play on and as soon as the oil was dry there were people enjoying it!
On the campus, teams did landscaping, painted basketball backboards, made gifts and wrote encouragement cards for the teachers, repaired and painted picnic tables, cleaned desks in the classrooms, washed windows and did a "makeover" in the teacher's lounge.
While all this work was going on, other volunteers were setting up for the BBQ and carnival while 150+ kids were enjoying Saturday Sports. What a day! Everyone left exhausted - but smiling, because is was an awesome day being a part of the Addams Neighborhood.
Principal, Juanita Montano-Varela, Vice Principal Curtis Smith and many from the Addams staff were there to be a part of the day as well.
Northwest is already talking about another ServeSaturday in October, and it will be exciting to see how many more volunteers from the church will get involved volunteering in the classroom and helping out at Saturday Sports between now and then!
We say it all the time, but it's all about the relationships! When you spend time in a neighborhood, you get to know the people and you see the needs and the many opportunities to invest in children, families, the school and community . . . it's a HUGE investment being made in our city.
Just imagine if every neighborhood had a partner doing what Northwest and many other churches are doing! It would be pretty incredible, and it's a great picture of the church BEING The Church!
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