By Linda Gupton
Photo Credit: Kurt Ward
On a summer Saturday morning, Jon Young arrived at Broadview Middle School in Burlington with a team of volunteers. Armed with gardening tools and trash bags, he and two others took on the task from Principal Nicole Lancaster to clear weeds from the front entranceway and tidy up the school grounds.
They were there as part of “Love for Alamance: A Day of Service,” an event sponsored by the Faith Team of For Alamance, a grassroots initiative aimed at finding opportunities for the community to work together on their common goals.
“This kind of manual labor might sound dull, but I have to tell you that the conversation among the three of us was virtually nonstop as we worked,” Young said. “Yes, it is possible to pull weeds and talk and laugh simultaneously!”
That’s exactly what Kurt Ward, the pastor of Northside Fellowship in east Burlington and a leader of the Faith Team, hoped to see happen that day. “Doing the service project is important, but our goal is to also bring together people who might not otherwise interact with each other,” he said.
The event, held in early August, involved more than 100 volunteers from eight organizations from across the county who came together to complete service projects at several schools and non-profit organizations. In addition to cleaning up the grounds of three schools, participants also helped with food and clothing distribution at the homeless shelter of Allied Churches of Alamance County.
This was the second “Love for Alamance: A Day of Service” that the Faith Team has sponsored. The August event included a kick-off breakfast at Holly Hill Mall designed to bring everyone together and provide an opportunity for volunteers to meet and get to know each other better.
Pastor Brian DeHart and members of his congregation from New Covenant Fellowship Church in Graham were participating for the first time in the Day of Service project. Some members hosted the kick-off breakfast and helped with registration at the mall. Others worked on service projects at Southern Middle School.
“We have an amazing congregation that wants to make an impact, make a difference in the community,” said DeHart.
Although the Faith Team supplied all the volunteers that day with some conversation-starter questions, Young said his team, which included Jim Albright and Carlos Valera, never needed to use them.
“The talk and questions were free-flowing and relaxed,” said Young. “I especially enjoyed hearing about Carlos’s background coming from Argentina. We also talked about how we felt about volunteering to help bring Alamance together.”
And, Young added, it felt good to know they were also contributing to a greater good of making the school look beautiful for welcoming the students back.
Other volunteers shared the same sentiment.
“Everyone who participated had a huge thing in common,” said Claudia Aaron, a member of the mission board at New Covenant Fellowship, who helped with the kick-off breakfast.
“We were all there because we wanted to serve and help other people.”
Click here to learn more about the Love For Alamance event.
About For Alamance
For Alamance is a partnership between Alamance County community members, Impact Alamance and The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation. Their aim is to inspire community members to work together despite their differences to build a better Alamance. The initiative comprises five action teams: the Arts & Culture Team, Bridging Team, Faith Team, Narrative Team and Youth Wellness Team. The teams have been gathering public knowledge through community conversations since early 2023. Now, they are beginning to take action to create an Alamance that is rooted in the aspirations of its community members.
Get Involved
If you’re interested in learning more about the Faith Team, please contact Kurt Ward at kurt@mynorthsidefamily.org. If you’re interested in learning more about the For Alamance Initiative, please contact Jewel Tillman at jewel.tillman@conehealth.com.
