More area churches come together for annual Carefest

Three years ago, Carefest was just a day of community beautification that added a few highlights to the flowing mane that is the landscape of DuPage County.

Now Carefest has expanded to the equivalent of a day at the spa on the way to a full-body makeover if organizers can keep the project growing.

The daylong event, which is being held today, unites willing volunteers with sites that can use some landscaping, painting or cleaning.

Wheaton Bible Church organized the first Carefest in 2005. It remained an in-house event until last year when church staff reached out to other parishes.

This year, Carefest is bigger than it's ever been. About 1,800 volunteers from 10 different churches today will brighten up about 60 different locations throughout DuPage County.

"This is not a Wheaton Bible Church event," said Chris McElwee, pastor of local impact at Wheaton Bible Church. "This is a community event."

Schools will be a major focus of the event. Roughly one third of the sites selected are schools in DuPage.

McElwee said the sites receiving the beauty treatments are all not-for-profit or private residences in need of assistance.

People or locations interested in receiving help on Carefest next year should contact McElwee. However, he said, most sites are selected on word-of-mouth and general knowledge of who needs help in a community.

"Churches just sort of already know about these people or places that could use some help," McElwee said.

The paint, plants and other materials, including about 500 square yards of mulch, are all being donated by local businesses or purchased at a deep discount.

McElwee said Carefest won't be deterred by storms.

"This is a rain or shine event," McElwee said. "Even if it's torrential rain, thunder and lightning we'll be out there as long as it's safe. Of course, we're hoping it won't be too terrible."