Yard Clean-Up For Seniors

VOLUNTEERS FROM CHURCH OF GOD PROVIDE YARD SERVICE CLEAN-UP FOR SENIOR CITIZENS!
From Carly Adames

On a brisk, Sunday morning on December 23, 2018, dozens of volunteers from the World Mission Society Church of God braced for the cold 34 degree weather and headed to Upper Albany Avenue in Hartford, CT to provide leaf and yard cleaning service to senior citizens. More than 75 members from the Church of God, based in Middletown, CT participated in this community service event. Members from branches of the Church in nearby regions also joined in this effort, including Boston, MA; Springfield, MA; and Providence, RI.

In preparation for today’s clean up, the Church partnered with the Upper Albany NRZ (Neighborhood Revitalization Zone) to help local residents who need assistance. More than ten residents signed up to receive the service through the Albany Branch Hartford Library. However, within minutes after volunteers began cleaning, word of the volunteers’ enthusiasm and energy spread rapidly from house to house throughout the neighborhood. Nearby residents welcomed volunteers and asked if they could help them with their yards, too. The volunteers gladly accepted.

Denise Best, 65, a community leader and chair of the Upper Albany NRZ is a senior resident who also benefited of the service. She praised the Church of God for their good deeds and sharing the love of God the Father and God the Mother. “On behalf of our mayor, I’d like to thank you very much, World Mission Society Church of God, for being here today—for helping us out in our community, specifically for working for our seniors, who often get overlooked. I cannot thank you enough. I’m really impressed with not just you coming here today, but all the good works that your organization does internationally. I think it’s fantastic and we’re very blessed to have you here. I’d like to thank all the volunteers for coming out, and I’d like to thank the Heavenly Mother for bringing you here today and doing this good work. I thank you very, very much.” Another 70-year-old resident who resides on Oakland Ave thanked the Church members for their efforts, saying that there were leaves and branches that had piled up in the nooks and crannies of her backyard for nearly ten years.

Kimberli Owens, a Church member from the Springfield, MA branch, works in Hartford and helped coordinate this event with the NRZ and other community organizations. “I work in the Upper Albany and Blue Hills neighborhood every day, so it feels great to work alongside fellow members of the Church of God to share love with our neighbors, especially our senior citizens. The elderly population, which deserves our love and attention, is sometimes overlooked. So, coordinating this event was special to us and to the community organizers that we worked with.”
In total, the volunteers collected more than 100 bags of leaves and trash. Bags will be collected by the City of Hartford, who supported the efforts of the clean-up. KNOX, a Hartford community organization, also provided volunteers with some of the supplies necessary for the event such as gloves and garbage bags.

Daniel Rahaim of Middletown, CT regularly volunteers in the Church’s community service events. “I was very thankful to be able to help out in the Hartford community. Especially being able to unite with our volunteers from Boston and Springfield, MA and Providence, RI was very special and meant a lot to every household we visited. Their faces lit up hearing that members had come from so far to join and their gratitude made everything worthwhile.”

The volunteers cleaned leaves, litter, and removed fallen branches and debris from over 20 residences on Oakland Terrace, Deerfield Street, Blue Hills Ave, and Colebrook Street. As they went from house to house, they also picked up litter from along the side of the road. Volunteers were scheduled to clean from 10:00am until 11:30am, but many volunteers did not finish until nearly 3:30pm to ensure all residents who needed assistance received the service and that the job was done well.

“I’m very thankful to be able to unite with the Connecticut Church of God members for this yard clean up community service. It seems like a relatively easy task for us but it must be hard for those who are older. The chilly weather would also cause it to be more difficult. It is beautiful to see so many people being considerate and caring towards our elderly neighbors,” shared Xavier Maldave, a volunteer who came from the Boston, MA branch to join the clean-up.

Through united efforts and a loving heart, the Church regularly holds volunteer services throughout the region to spread joy and love to all people. Last Sunday, December 16, members from the Middletown, Connecticut Church of God joined a street clean up in Newburgh, NY, which more than 200 volunteers from New York and New Jersey branches of the Church attended.
The Church of God believes that sharing even small acts of love goes a long way. Their zest for serving others and inspiring acts of love are contagious. Through the senior citizen yard clean-up event, volunteers felt satisfied to serve elderly residents in the community. The joy in the residents’ faces after seeing the impact the volunteers’ efforts made at their homes was even greater than the amount of bags collected.

For more information on the World Mission Society Church of God, please visit www.english.watv.org.

Cover Picture And Slideshow Pictures From Carly Adames