Thirty campuses, 2,000 volunteers, thousands of hours of labor… all on one day! As part of our involvement with local networking here in San Diego, NNYM partnered with the Luis Palau CityFest to put on the first annual "School Beautification Day." The purpose was to connect volunteers to schools through service projects to show God's love and build relationships with school administrators. On the day, I went around with Nate Landis who headed up the efforts for the countywide day of service.
Great Response
The response was incredible from the volunteers of multiple churches. Even the US Navy Chaplaincy sent out volunteers to serve. Many thanked us for the opportunity to give back to the community in a tangible way. School officials worked side-by-side with volunteers. The San Ysidro School District superintendent mandated his gardening staff be present to get the work done. There are only three gardeners for nine schools! The volunteers helped them do months of labor in one day.
Great Stories
That day I captured on video the stories of two school administrators. John is the athletic director at Crawford High School in downtown San Diego and his budget has been drastically cut. He would not have been able to paint, fix equipment and landscape without the help. Margie Oliver, the Garrison Elementary principal, put on gloves to help the volunteers from Oceanside churches clean up her school's grounds. She expressed gratitude for the church community who revitalized her school. She couldn't wait until the students saw the improvements. Check out the video for the rest of the story.
Working Together
This demonstration of God's love brought the greater body of Christ together. It is a complement to the many campus ministries that are proclaiming God's truth on the school campuses.
