This was the second year for the Project One event. Participants worked at permanent and mobile homes to help people who could not do the work themselves because of physical or financial limitations.
The number of volunteers more than doubled from last year, says Heidi Halvorson, assistant to the church’s executive pastor Paul Trimble. In 2007, some 500 people helped with 50 projects.
All the volunteers gathered at the church at 7 a.m., worked throughout the day, and then capped the event with a barbecue. Some of the homeowners joined them for the meal and a worship service that followed, says Halvorson.
Church member Scott Wilson came up with the idea after he returned from one of the congregation’s 12 trips to the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina. Planning the event took months of preparation, he says.
Homeowners or others nominated the sites during a three-week period in January. Project managers were chosen for each site, and then the volunteers were divided into work teams. To see additional photos from the event, visit Project One.
“Our goal is to help as many people as we can,” Wilson says. Volunteers had to be able to complete the projects in a day. Wilson adds that he hopes to organize teams in the near future to help on projects such as replacing a roof, which would take two days.
Each of the volunteers paid $25 to participate. The money helped offset the cost of materials. The largest donation was $5,000 and came from a woman who received help last year, but whose financial situation had improved, Halvorson says.
The total value of material and labor was roughly $100,000, Wilson says. The church will pay between $40,000 and $50,000 for material, much of which was purchased at cost or significantly reduced prices. The rest was donated.
“We had a lot of support from local businesses,” Wilson says. “They were excited to get on board.”
Businesses were eager to participate because of the church’s enthusiasm and commitment to complete the work, Wilson says. “It’s who we are,” he explains.
One of the beneficiaries of the church’s work wrote on the Crossroads website that their view of who Christians are changed because of the project: “You came and worked on my house and I have always been skeptical of religious people . . . I always thought religious people were hypocritical, and because what you did this week, my views have changed. Thank you Project One!”
