College View Academy students, teachers and some local church pastors banded together to make a difference for Christ in the Lincoln community last April. The experience was Project Blitz, a one-day event that has occurred annually or semi-annually for the last 13 years.
This community service endeavor is similar to Union College’s annual Project Impact, but it is scaled back for about 80 participants. Following a devotional by Pastor Caleb White (Piedmont Park Church) in the CVA chapel, students and sponsors headed out to five different destinations.
A group of 10 freshmen went to the Salvation Army to help with general cleaning, vacuuming and scrubbing of walls. A group of 10 juniors and freshmen spent time at the Good Neighbor Community Center to sort clothes, organize diapers by size, distribute food to clients of the Center, and organize the toys and books donated to the Grandparents’ Room. Five freshman men engaged in cleaning chairs, walls, doors, windows and baseboards at Region V Services. Seven freshmen and a senior went to Northbridge Early Childhood Development Center where there were plenty of walls to scrub, floors to sweep, closets to organize and surfaces to sanitize.
The largest group went to the People’s City Mission distribution center. This group of 22 sophomores, juniors and seniors sorted toys, clothes and household items to be put on shelves for clients who came to shop later in the morning. Rainy weather prevented one group from going on trash patrol at Holmes Lake Park; they were redirected to paint some of the gym walls and perform needed cleaning elsewhere in the CVA building.
The Parent Teacher Student Organization graciously served a delicious lunch of haystacks, drinks and desserts for participants when they returned to campus at noon.
The day raised the spirits of both givers and receivers. Students experienced how important service to the community can be. “…Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”
Louie Roehl serves is chaplain and history teacher at College View Academy.
