U M Children's Services and Transitional Living Program 2009

VOLUNTEERS IN MISSION – UM CHILDREN’S SERVICES AND TRANSITIONAL LIVING PROGRAM

The hot August weather (August 2 – 6, 2010) did not melt the spirits of our hard-working group at the United Methodist Children’s Services during the week of August 2-6. The work this year was varied and gave most of us the chance to be indoors and outdoors. Most of our projects included the satisfaction of “before and after”—we could see completed results.
Some of our group completed the interior painting of the office area in the original building. Others put a double coat of paint on the big garage in the parking lot. The trim work carried over to several doors around the building, as the brown paint can seemed to last like the miracle of the jug of oil! Many of our group put a lot of sweat equity into the tearing up of old bushes, bulbs and weeds around the raised beds of the building. When they finished mulching the areas they cleaned out, the result was a whole new, sharp look. The landscaping around the new building was completed by another team laying truckloads of mulch. This group also set large stones in place around the parking area. A few of our group did more detailed carpentry with building dividers for the resource center and repairing windows.
Finally, there was the project that we left undone—the basement full of flood damaged donations. The basement in the new building has the floor space of a gymnasium. Hundreds of bags of clothing and boxes of household items had to be sorted and washed because of recent flooding. Two new washers and dryers were set up and the group ran those machines for hours each day, but the tide of clothing was bottlenecked by the speed of the machines. Even so, by the end of the week, many items were hung and many boxes were sorted to make items ready for distribution in the resource center. This resource center has become the largest in the Milwaukee area serving over 50,000 people last year.
Surrounding these hours of work were many hours spent eating together and sharing devotions and songs. Our time at the Community Church in Elm Grove was comfortable and relaxing. Church members treated us to delicious, home-cooked dinners for three nights. We were blessed by a communion and worship service on one night. The church became our temporary “home”, and we felt so welcome there.
Best of all, the week was about relationships. Our group included youth and adults from several churches, so there were new people to meet, a great sense of working side by side, and a lot of fun and games during our down time. The leaders at UMCS and all their staff made our group of volunteers a high priority during our week. They told us all about the miracles that happen there, and helped us to feel like a vital part of a very exciting ministry.