April 13, 2023
Our annual Serve Day is back in full force after a hiatus during the pandemic. Together with teacher and parent volunteer chaperones, high school students were divided into groups for eleven off campus locations.
Even though it was forecasted to be a rainy day, the rain held off for most of the day and our nearly 160 high school students stayed mostly dry!
At Compassion Connect, Mr. Felton and his team spruced up their parking lot.
“Serving others can feel tiring at times, it is rewarding in the end”
Mr. Burnison and his team worked at Faithful Savior Church and cleaned their grounds.
Mr. Herboth and his team cleared some of neighbors' yards of fallen debris.
Three groups went to local elementary schools.
PCS Elementary School - Mr. Hilbert and his team greeted visitors at the Grandparents and VIP performance, helped out in the classroom with the elementary students and had an assortment assignments.
Ventura Park Elementary - Mrs. Bettle and her team played with the students, read to them and organized class items.
Russell Elementary - Mrs. Mazurowski and Mrs. Wetzler and their team of students joined in organized recess activities, read to students and helped wherever they could.
Our PCS students were rewarded with smiles from students who enjoyed interacting with the “big” kids! One of our students commented that she enjoyed seeing the elementary students’ excitement at having visitors. Another expressed, “I learned how much I miss kindergarten.” An observant student noted, “Even the smallest kindness can have a big impact on small kids.”
Other locations included:
At Gateway Church, Mr. Espinoza and his students cleaned blinds, windows, vacuumed their youth center.
“…go into it with a cheerful and willing attitude and you can have a great time while serving others.”
At Birch Community Services, Mrs. Coyle-Ray and Mr. Caldwell with their team sorted and organized donated food.
At Union Gospel Mission Thrift Store, Ms. Bridges and team sorted and organized donated clothing.
“I learned what it felt like to serve others in a way that was indirect and still made an impact on the community.”
At the Cherrywood Village Assisted Living, Mr. Hildebrand and Mrs. McLean with their team created origami with residents, played board games, entertained residents with ukulele and piano playing. And most importantly, had one on one conversations with some of the residents.
At the City Team ministry with chaperones Mr. Jannsen and Mrs. Humphrey, the team did a little street cleanup, handed out socks and hygiene kits and served hot coffee to those living on the streets.
Eighty two junior high students were divided into four groups. These groups were assigned various cleaning sites throughout our San Rafael Jr/Sr High School campus.
"Serving with a good attitude is a choice.”
“Little things always need to be fixed, cleaned and taken care.”
Depending on who one asks, one of the highlights may be gum cleaning! Student observations included, “fossilized gum is hard to pick” and “scraping gum is scary and gross!”
After about an hour of cleaning at various locations, the students rotated through stations:
Writing appreciation letters to the military.
Birthday cards for the homeless.
Cards for missionary use in Cuba.
Our desire for Serve day is for the students to serve. And if at least one student learns that “I don’t have to fly across the world to serve, and that anywhere I go I can find endless opportunities to serve my community and share the Gospel”, then we at PCS praise God!
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Written by Grace Dugger