CareFest reaches out to serve the community

With the theme of "Neighbors Serving Neighbors," more than 550 volunteers representing multiple churches set out to serve in the community during an annual day of service called CareFest.

On Saturday, May 1, the congregations of Wheaton Bible Church, Iglesia del Pueblo, and Tri-Village Church led the volunteer effort with work that included helping to distribute food at a food pantry, creating a memorial butterfly garden at a local elementary school, a bike parade at a nursing home, landscaping at a women's shelter and painting and cleaning homes.

Volunteers served at 18 schools in four school districts, at five youth and community centers, two shelters, and at more than 20 nonprofit organizations and residences.

"CareFest is all about being good neighbors," says Joel Duncan, CareFest organizer and director of local outreach for Wheaton Bible Church. "When you give your time, resources, and skills to serve others you are saying that they have value and worth. Our goal as a church is to care for people in our community - with no strings attached - so that they know we see them, we value them, and we care for their well-being."

Since 2005, CareFest has brought together volunteers of all ages from area churches and local businesses to donate their time, material and talents to serve the community. Volunteers have used hundreds of gallons of paint, planted more than 10,000 flowers, and spread over 5,000 cubic yards of mulch, enough to cover 11 football fields.

All together, CareFest volunteers and their sponsors have donated in excess of 60,000 hours of service to the local community.

For video and more information about the event and the local business sponsors, visit www.carefest.org.