Elgin Christian school gives up 450 to day of 'Give Back' service
From spring cleaning to packing food, nearly 500 students, faculty, staff members and parent volunteers from Westminster Christian School in Elgin participated in a day of service Thursday at sites throughout the city and the Fox Valley area.
This is the fourth year for the school's "Give Back" initiative, said Steve Hall, head of school.
"We are trying to help them understand that there is a fuller purpose in life and also in faith," he said. "We're helping them understand that we feel blessed to be Christians, and we want to be a blessing for others as well. The more we can help, the better."
About 450 students from elementary grades through high school attended morning chapel to organize before heading out into the communities.
Among their projects was helping with indoor and outdoor maintenance at Highland Oaks of Elgin assisted living/retirement community and the Boys & Girls Club of Elgin. They also spruced up the grounds at Lazarus House homeless shelter in St. Charles and scrubbed down and cleaned play school toys used by the children of clients.
Volunteers packed food at the Northern Illinois Food Bank in Geneva, Food for Greater Elgin, and Feed My Starving Children in Schaumburg. They also picked up debris from streets for the city of Elgin, helped at Judson University in Elgin, and assisted various ministries at local churches.
This year, the school partnered with about 15 organizations.
"We have a lot of the same organizations (each year) because now there is a relationship with them," said Rich Engle, the school's director of mission advancement. "We had more organizations than we could get to this year and we are grateful for that. Each year, we are already thinking of ideas for next year ... what can we do to better serve our community and give our kids real-life, practical experience of what does it mean to serve."
For several weeks, students spent time in chapel, homerooms and classrooms discussing what "giving," as taught in the Bible, really looks like.
"A Christian education is one that teaches that the truth of the gospel is to impact every area of our lives - therefore every aspect of learning," Engle said. "As Christians, we believe that serving is where our faith and action come together and are lived out. We believe we are all called to give of our time, treasure, and talents.
"We hope that it might serve as an encouragement to the greater Fox Valley community that young people today do take serving and giving very seriously."