Churches Partner to 'Do Some Good' in the Community
It was a damp and rainy morning in the northwest suburbs of Chicago on Saturday, April 25. But nothing could dampen the spirits of more than 140 volunteers from two Presbyterian churches in Arlington Heights whose members and friends spread out into the community to "do some good." It was the sixth annual community Service Day held by First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights. This year, Service Day had an even greater reach because First Presbyterian and Southminster Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights joined together in the effort. The combined forces were able to serve more than 20 separate sites from nine community organizations as well as residents of three local senior-living communities.
The day began with all 140+ volunteers gathering-in a sea of red Service Day T-shirts-at 8:00 am at First Presbyterian Church for registration and team orientation. By 8:20, nine teams, each comprising people from both churches, were off to the work sites with an aim to beat the rain. They departed in groups ranging from 8 to 18 to clean, organize, repair, paint, weed, rake, mulch, and otherwise spruce up buildings, property, and homes affiliated with or served by Journeys, WINGS, Little City, Wheeling Township, Clearbrook, Faith Community Homes, Shelter, Inc., Northwest Compass, and the Arlington Heights Senior Center. Volunteers from these teams also spent time visiting with residents of Little City and Clearbrook. Finally, a tenth, multigenerational team gathered in Southminster Church to work on a spring craft for residents of senior-living communities at Church Creek, The Moorings, and Luther Village.
Despite the intermittent and steadily increasing rainfall, the teams accomplished a lot, both indoors and out. At Journeys, Fernando Egea (from First Presbyterian) led a team of 17 who cleaned out the attic, took inventory, sorted clothing, cleaned up the food pantry, and patched and painted walls and doors. With their list of many and various tasks completed, team leader Fernando Egea commented, "It was great to see these people come together and work as mini teams to do what was necessary to make Journeys a better place for those it serves." Ed Gudonis (from Southminster) led a team of 14 to visit two homes affiliated with Little City in Palatine, where they did a lot of painting, cleaning, and some outside work. The team also took time to do crafts with the residents, who "really liked us being there-we helped change up their usual day," said Gudonis.
Nan Gregory (from Southminster), was thrilled that Southminster Church members and friends were able to join in this year's Service Day. Her team of 18 people created more than 70 "May flowers" decorations that were later delivered to the senior citizen residents at Church Creek, The Moorings, and Luther Village. Gregory enthusiastically embraced the day, saying, "It was a terrific idea to merge the two churches together for this effort. We had a great time and accomplished a great deal."
"Service Day is a highlight of spring for First Presbyterian Church," said Rev. Alex Lang, pastor. "What made it even better this year was the ability to partner with Southminster to reach even more people, to do even more good things." Plans are currently under way for First Presbyterian and Southminster to work together on Service Day again next year.