How can we as a congregation reach out to the surrounding community in a new and meaningful way? That was the question facing the congregation of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Largo, Florida.
Thus, the Back-To-School Health and Safety Fair was born. It began as an intergenerational vision of the Director of Christian Education and the Parish Nurse. Our vision was to invite the community to be our guests for a special open house before the start of school. As guests, there would, of course, be no charge for anything.
Along with medical and emergency friends, we invited 28 community providers, including the American Red Cross, Drug Free America Foundation, Safe Kids Drowning Prevention, the Largo Library, the Sickle Cell Anemia Society, Largo Recreation, a poison control center representative, 4H, a pediatric dentist, the local diabetes and epilepsy societies and representatives from boy/girl scout troops, a martial arts school, and many more.
About forty people of Prince of Peace volunteered to make the fair a success. For weeks members had been bringing new books and school supplies, so each child could select two items to take home. Volunteers staffed the book/supply table, the kitchen, and the Prince of Peace Ministry table. Some served as photographers or dressed as clowns. Our teens painted faces. Morton Plant Hospital taught us how to apply casts to fingers. Of course, the children got to choose which finger to cast, which hopefully will lessen their apprehension if they ever break a bone. Some of our nurses and paramedics took blood pressures and did vision screenings. Other members served as registrars and staffed a video room, so children could be entertained while waiting for physicals. Many members served as a welcoming presence for guests.
Perhaps the best gift this year was the gift of discovery. As in years past, there were several families who had never brought their children for a physical examination. Fortunately, just weeks before school’s first bell, our physicians discovered that a young child was blind in one eye. Now he’ll be able to begin school with the help he will need for a solid and encouraging start.
“Let the little children come to me and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.”
Jane Corcoran, Parish Nurse
The Rev. Joe Glymph, Pastor
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church
455 Missouri Avenue
Largo, FL 33770
www.poplargo.org
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