One of the most rewarding activities we have been a part of this summer was assisting with the non-profit organization, Coldwater. This faith-based organization provides a variety of services throughout the year to reach out to a community in need and in the summer months provides sack lunches to children and their families.
I had been praying for an opportunity to serve the community with my kids when a good friend contacted me late Spring asking me if we wanted to volunteer! What an answer to prayer.
The best thing about this program is that as adults, we are to facilitate, but truly the program is designed to allow kids of all ages to participate and do something tangible to help those in need. Many programs I had researched similar to these only allowed older kids, so it was a perfect fit for all of us...including Jackson! Not to mention, a fun group of church friends were our "crew" every Thursday so the kids had fun hanging out with their friends too :).
We had to sanitize and wear gloves when handling the food, as well as keep it at the proper temperature to abide by health guidelines. The older kids (Lily) made sandwiches and cut cucumbers to put in baggies, while the younger kids (Jackson) assembled the paper bags with a piece of fruit and a tub of ranch dressing. We packaged all the cold stuff in coolers, filled up a water cooler for drinks, and loaded the cars. We then visited different housing complexes and delivered the lunches to the kids and their families. The complex we visited more often had a playground nearby so our kids played together with the other kids.
When I think of how to practically live out my faith, serving others is one of the first things that comes to mind. I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to be a part of this program. After the first week, the kids asked daily when we were going back to help!? What an impactful experience for them, and for me as well. I look forward to many opportunities like this in the future!
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| Lily and Ellie making sandwiches |
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| Jackson and Trace putting ranch tubs into lunch sacks |
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| These boys were hilarious. We loaded a wagon with 100 apples to wheel back and load in the lunches. |
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| Trace was taking the rear to make sure none of the apples fell off :) |
One of the services the program offered was a visit by a couple of police officers (one of which I knew from church!) during our lunch drop off to educate on firework safety. I was thankful my kids were glued to her instruction along with the others :)
