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Care and Share -- Join Hands Day |
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| So many wonderful activities are being planned and implemented by volunteer Thrivent Financial for Lutherans service teams in the Northeast Region! This web page will feature creative activity ideas and events that maximize the opportunity for supplemental funding. Please send photos with a description of the activity to cindy.kincaid@thrivent.com for potential use on this web page. Look at this page often to generate new ideas in your own chapter area also! Let's all SHARE as we CARE !! | | |
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Join Hands Day Project at Ross Park Zoo
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JOIN HANDS DAY grows at Island Beach Park |
Over 100 area residents
from 16 organizations gathered at the Interpretive
Center at Island Beach
State Park on Saturday,
May 3rd for the fourth Annual JOIN HANDS DAY.
Sponsored by Thrivent
Financial for Lutherans, Ocean County Chapter and the Friends of Island Beach
State Park the group dug gardens, created a pathway, spread mulch and topsoil,
and planted more than three hundred trees, shrubs, bushes, grasses and flowers
indigenous to the 12 mile state parks unique environment. Some of the younger volunteers
scoured the nearby beach for debris The State Park System has been on Governor
Jon Corzine's list of places to save money.
"It's unbelievable to
see what this group of volunteers can achieve in a few short hours." said
Rev. Gary N. Stiegler, volunteer organizer for the event.
"This kind of a turnout on a misty and cold morning in May shows that the
people of Ocean County care about their park" Members from several Lutheran
churches in the county were joined by Boy Scouts, cub scouts, church groups,
and scores of individual families just wanting to help make a difference to the
environment and the park. "We even had a family visiting from Maryland who pitched in
and helped." Stiegler said.
The Interpretive
Center is located 7 miles south of the
main gate of the park and is the home for exhibits and displays showing samples
of the flora, fauna, and wildlife on the Island.
JOIN HANDS DAY is an
outgrowth of the "thousands points of Light" program that was initiated
to organized volunteer organizations in 1993 and is the only national day of
service that specifically targets and develops relationships between young
people and adults through neighborhood volunteering. Young people and adults
work together on an equal basis to plan, organize and
implement the day's activities.
"We hope that more and
more people would mark their calendars for the first weekend of May in 2009 and
plan to JOIN HANDS again to help keep Island Beach State Park the treasure that
it is for all the people of Ocean County and New Jersey." Stiegler said.
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South Central NY Helps Build Ramp
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The South Central NY Chapter reported that they completed
the ramp project for Care Abounds and Join Hands Day. Here’s a picture showing
some of the workers including Pastor Foote, Luann Rottmann,
her husband and the recipient, Brenda. They are so happy with the ramp!
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Reflecting on Past Join Hands Day Activities |
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As the picnic tables were built, volunteers within a wide age range, shared both skills and stories, resulting in a worthwhile service project and great fellowship across the generations. |
SOUTHWESTERN NJ CHAPTER -- A service team of Thrivent Financial members from several churches and local Boy Scouts met at a barn in Mullica Hill, NJ, to assemble 6 picnic tables. The tables were donated to Camp Grice operated by Southern NJ Council, Boy Scouts of America. Several team members had had purchased and pre-cut all the lumber in advance. The group worked over 6 hours on May 26, assembling tables. There were youth of various ages, including Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts and Venturers. Scouting leaders and Thrivent members ranged from youth to 83 years old. One Thrivent member who is 73 was excited to be working with Scouts and sharing Scouting stories. | |
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WESTERN NASSAU (NY) CHAPTER --Adult and youth members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Williston Park, New York held a free car wash for anyone in the community. The weather was cloudy and cool, however the volunteers washed, rinsed and dried 37 cars. "All the youth and adults enjoyed working and interacting together under the Thrivent Financial Banner, reports Paul Koppelmann, lead congregational coordinator at St. John's Lutheran. |
A total of 518 volunteer hours were spent making this activity a "squeaky clean" success! | |
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A corner of Binghamton (NY) was brightened as the picnic tables in Ross Park were given a coat of bright red paint. |
BROOME COUNTY (NY) CHAPTER -- Join Hands Day brought 45 youth and adults together to prepare Ross Park in Binghamton for the summer season. The project included repairing and painting picnic tables, raking and bagging 85 large bags of debris and manicuring six garden areas. "What a wonderful day! The way we spruced up the park will certainly be appreciated for the families that picnic there," commented Tom Brown, Chapter Events Director and coordinator for the JHD activity. | |
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VERMONT CHAPTER -- Community Lutheran Church in South Burlington, Vermont decided to use a portion of their church property to create a garden to give back to the community. A mini-grant from the Vermont Community Garden Network and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans JHD funds helped. The Youth Group installed a fence around the plot. The soil was prepared and a design was drawn up for the planting plan. Members planted, weeded, watered, and harvested. All of the fresh vegetables were donated to a local emergency food pantry. To advertise the garden, a “Helping Hands” sign was posted on the fence facing the main street of the town. In August, the church participated a community parade with a float. Information about the congregation, how to volunteer in the garden, and the purpose of the garden was distributed. The garden certainly exceeded the plans for its very first year! |
The "fruits" of the volunteers' "labors" has resulted in over 500 pounds of produce! Just think of the good that is spreading from this JHD activity! | |
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Essential supplies for the volunteers at a JHD event include food!! |
HUNTERDON COUNTY CHAPTER (NJ) partnered with Crossroad Christian Camp to help with spring cleaning acitivities. The chapter used its JHD funding to provide t-shirts and supplies for the clean-up. 50 volunteers devoted a total of 1032 hours in service in conjunction with this activity! | |
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NORTHEASTERN CT CHAPTER -- 18 volunteers spread 50 cubic yards of mulch as part of Christ Lutheran School and Daycare's playground improvement project as their JHD activity. | | |
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