CLEVES, Ohio, Aug. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- It's back to school—and the beginning of this school year is off to a great start for multiple local schools and families.
In part, that's due to more than 800 local volunteers who came together at Whitewater Crossing Christian Church's event, Solve 7 Sunday, held on August 12.
In the service event, inspired volunteers gathered to work on a variety of projects to make a difference in local and global communities. Projects ranged from building a home with Help Build Hope in partnership with the Habitat for Humanity to packing 87,100 meals to be sent to Swaziland.
"Solve 7 Sunday was a day like no other that we've had at Whitewater. It was an awe-inspiring experience to be a part of, serving our community and our world, together with one another," said Shannan Davis, outreach and equipping director at Whitewater Crossing.
"Many lives will be touched by the efforts from Solve 7 Sunday, including those who attended," said Davis.
With children heading back to school this week, volunteers helped to clean, prepare and paint classrooms at Miamitown Elementary. More than 150 children received donated shoes; 250 back-to-school pencil packs were prepared; 300 backpack club bags were packed; and 25 counselor bags for children were created and donated to Sayler Park and Miamitown Elementary.
Solve 7 Sunday culminated a summer-long service project. Davis explained that it was also a day that successfully showed "faith in action." Solve 7 Sunday attendees spanned from Gen Alpha to Baby Boomers, according to Davis.
The efforts from Solve 7 Sunday will have great reach: more than 400 welcome bags for foster care children were created; 300 shoes were sorted; more than 650 encouragement card were written; and 50 encouragement paintings were also made during the event.
Additionally, 170 lunches for homeless ministries were delivered to Faith Fellowship, BLOC and Whitewater Crossing attenders. More than 200 toiletry bags and approximately 300 blessing bags were packed; 25 care bags were made for the women of Alabaster; 300 homeless blessing bags were created; about 25 local lawns were mowed; and hundreds of bags of clothes were sorted.
The event, held on Whitewater Crossing's campus in Cleves, Ohio, was unique in that it replaced regular service. "It may not have looked like the regular service people are used to attending on Sunday, but we set out to worship with our hands instead of our voices."
Jen Kiefer, a teacher at Miamitown Elementary and a Whitewater Crossing attender, said she was grateful to have 38 volunteers committed to helping the school be fully prepared for the start of the school year. "I have been getting my classroom ready for 19 years now, and this year goes down as one of the most amazing years of all," said Kiefer.
"We had people stapling, cleaning, stuffing folders, setting up computers and even painting. The hallways are so much cleaner and brighter, and it is all because these people gave their time to Solve 7," Kiefer said.
Solve 7 is a larger Whitewater Crossing initiative focused on solving seven of the biggest problems in the local community and around the world. The initiative helps to remove barriers—often physical ones—in someone's life, in order to create more spiritual opportunities in his or her future.
All summer (and regularly throughout the year), Whitewater Crossing attenders have been helping others across Solve 7's focus areas: feeding the hungry; teaching the uneducated; clothing the poor; finding the forgotten; healing the sick; housing the homeless; and rescuing the slaves.
"With an underlying theme of 'helping people,' Solve 7 Sunday marked the high point of that focused service journey this summer," said Davis, who explained that Solve 7 has dozens of passionate partners and ministries who are also involved.
"People are understanding this is about helping others and making a difference while cultivating hope. Solve 7 Sunday was a great example of a day that did just that," she said.
To learn more about Solve 7, visit solve7.org or call (513) 661-5811 and to learn more about Whitewater Crossing, visit https://whitewatercrossing.org
SOURCE Whitewater Crossing
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