17th annual CareFest serves 10 communities

For the 17th consecutive year, the congregations of Wheaton Bible Church, Iglesia del Pueblo in Wheaton, and Tri-Village Church in Streamwood held their annual CareFest event.

More than 600 volunteers served at over 60 sites throughout DuPage and suburban Cook County as "Neighbors Serving Neighbors."

"We desire to be a blessing to our neighbors, so we serve our local schools, nonprofits, and at people's homes," said Joel Duncan, who organizes CareFest and serves as director of local outreach for Wheaton Bible Church. "We value and want to seek the flourishing of our neighbors and communities. CareFest gives us an opportunity to do just that and in a big way through serving each other with hope and joy."

Volunteers served at 20 schools in three school districts, at 15 youth and community centers, two shelters, and at more than 20 residences and nonprofit organizations in the area.

Volunteers landscaped a shelter for homeless mothers and their children, assisted with food distribution at a local food pantry, painted games on school playgrounds, installed a community vegetable garden, planted a sensory garden at an elementary school, assisted elderly with their yard work, and much more.

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 since 2005.

Volunteers and sponsors have donated in excess of 41,000 hours of service.

From hundreds of gallons of paint, to 8,000 flowers planted and enough cubic yards of mulch spread that it would cover 12 football fields, CareFest has made a lasting impact by helping people tackle maintenance and improvement projects that would have been out of reach otherwise.

Duncan stressed, "We especially want to extend our gratitude to the local businesses and organizations who discounted and even donated much needed supplies, resources and even labor to make these projects possible. Without them, CareFest would have a significantly smaller reach and impact in our communities."

For more information about CareFest and the businesses and organization who support this annual day of serving the community, visit www.carefest.org.