Local church takes 24 hours to give back

MISHAWAKA, Ind. – A group of 500 volunteers from Vineyard Church in Mishawaka is teaming up to spend 24 hours giving back to the community nonstop. 

It’s the first time the church has put on a volunteering event of this magnitude. Church leaders say the idea started at the beginning of the year. 

Those volunteers will give back in a variety of ways. Some will extend a helping hand to neighbors in different communities, others plan to visit nursing homes, work to clean up parks, help feed the homeless or deliver school supplies to local schools. 

“Life is filled with challenge and it can make a big difference when we just turn around and try to be helpful to people that are going through difficult things,” said Mark Pope, the lead pastor at Vineyard Church. “That’s just something that I’d like to see happen in our city.”

The volunteering will start at 5 p.m. on Friday and continue non-stop through Saturday at 5 p.m.

The church has also organized several events during that time in hopes of bringing the community together. Those include the following:

• Friday, August 17, 2018: Free concert featuring praise and worship music at Battell Park from 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.  
• Saturday, August 18, 2018: Free lunch with hot dogs and chips at Central Park from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
• Saturday, August 18, 2018: Free block party with face painting, treats and games at Merrifield Park from noon – 4 p.m.

"We're going to places where people on a typical weekend will already be hanging out,” said Pope. “But we're going to send out teams ahead of time to pass out invitations for people that live around the park and our hope is that hundreds of people will come and we can serve them well.”

More information, including a full schedule detailing where volunteers will be serving, can be found here.