Impact Charlotte-The Impact

A couple of weeks ago, 30 or so volunteers came to Bethlehem Center ready to serve as part of Impact Charlotte. We had prayed for no rain, since there were very few projects to be done inside, and instead were greeted with the reverse: 85-degree-plus weather, cloudless skies, and high humidity. The hard thing about times like this is that the kids aren't there, so there are no "kid breaks" and volunteers aren't directly rewarded with hugs.

The volunteers, representing 11 different churches, 9 of which were UMCs, started at 9am and worked until 2pm, some even opting to work through lunch.

The projects that were completed?

• 3 signs cemented in
• Digging holes for 4 more signs then cemented in
• A new flower garden at Southside
• Prepping of a vegetable garden
• Trees planted
• Bird feeders hung
• Sidewalks cleaned
• Campbells Soup Labels clipped and sorted
• Tutor room cleaned out

The group worked hard to serve the children of the Bethlehem Center. We thank these volunteers for all of their hard work.

But more touching, we noticed a "present" left for us as we were locking up that day. It was a note left from Caroline, the 6-year-old daughter of Rev. Tom Schnitzlein, the minister at St. Stephen. We felt like it was the perfect picture of how these volunteers felt about serving that day: