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Tuesday, 29 July 2008 |
Vacation Bible School students help build house
Children of First United Methodist Church’s Vacation Bible School had the opportunity last week to make a difference.
When deciding which projects they wanted their fifth-graders to volunteer for and what they wanted the VBS kids’ offering to go toward, the church once again chose Habitat for Humanity of Saline County, said Karie Johnson, president of Youth United.
The Vacation Bible School children brought an offering each day to benefit Habitat for Humanity’s Youth United. They had a competition each day, girls against the boys, to see who could raise the most money, Johnson said.
The girls ended up winning with a difference of only $1. The children, ages preschool-fifth grade, raised more than $840.
“The kids went above and beyond what we all expected,” said Amy Storey, director of Children’s Ministries at the church. “We planned on shooting for $500, but they really got into it.”
The Bible School fifth-graders helped Habitat in a different way. Each day, instead of participating in the routine of games, music and storytime like the younger children, the fifth-graders went out into the community and worked for a different charity. Among these were Churches Joint Council on Human Needs, the Christian Community Care Clinic, Habitat Youth United and New Beginnings Resource Center.
Youth United is a group of youth in Saline County ages 5-25 that sponsor events to raise money to build an all-youth Habitat house every two years for a family.
Youth United just built its second house and is now working on the finishing touches. “This was the perfect time for kids this age to help,” Johnson said. “On the day the fifth-graders volunteered for Habitat, they went to the Youth Build house and laid sod in the hot sun.”
She added, ”We are so thankful for all of the kids’ help. We never expected to receive this much money. The fifth-graders were a huge help too. I’m glad they got the opportunity to actually see what their money was doing. I hope they feel encouraged to help make a difference, knowing that it doesn’t matter how old you are.”
The money will go toward the funds being raised by Youth United to receive a $5,000 matching grant to build their third house in summer 2010.
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