Samaritan’s Samaritan

This weekend was fun.

Every October our church encourages each Sunday school class to participate in a project to reach out, build up and give to the community. Our class joined with another class and 50+ people showed up on Saturday to give a face lift to a building in Hendersonville. The building houses a thrift store, food pantry and ministry center for an organization called Hendersonville Samaritan Association. They, like so many ministries, are too low in funds to work on things like darkened and stained ceiling tile or dirty bricks. So our group of men and women along with some donations from Lowes and a whole lot of tools and hardware spent the day power washing the outside brick, trimming trees and bushes, washing windows and trim, arranging flower pots, priming and painting, replacing ceiling tile, vacuuming carpets and dusting trinkets. The three ladies who work in the thrift store were so impressed with the visual impact new white ceiling tiles make in a big room. The brightness was an immediate lift to the mood.

Those that weren’t hardware savvy brought food and fed the rest of us, those that were appliance savvy hooked up a brand new freezer so that donated food could be kept and distributed safely, those that were kid friendly watched the children of other workers and those of us who had sore backs walked around with a camera and took lots of pictures.

I was very proud of our people. The friendly smiles and energy were intoxicating and the attitude of “let’s get this done right” was humbling to be a part of. We didn’t come into a place where people donate their time and energy, give of their hearts and their passions, to show a lack luster desire and serve half-way. We came to be a blessing, and I hope all those who make their way into those offices this morning are touched by the tangible sparkle reflecting what they have been producing there for a long, long time.

Kris trimming some bushes in the front of the building.

Natasha cleaned out the flower pots.

The church designed t-shirts for all of us to wear. This one shows a bit of the hard work that gets dusted off of busy hands.

Paul trimming ceiling tile.

Thelma gave me a smile amidst the busyness.

This young couple did a great job staying busy. When they weren’t putting up tile, they were carrying trash out, later I saw them putting a donated baby crib together for the store and still later they were on the paint crew (pictured at the bottom).

Gary was there all day and really put in a lot of effort with that sprayer. It was very dirty work and the spray was cold and gritty. His shoulder was very sore the next day.

These ladies are workers in the facility. They didn’t want their picture taken, but I’m just not very cooperative.

This chainsaw was buzzing all morning. The branches and twigs had one trailer to fit into so they had to be cut and re-cut to fit.

Amber was loading up raked leaves.

Amber conquering the trailer and all it’s contents.

These little fellas were playing hard but also very interested in the activities going on outside the window. I had to get a few shots through the glass of the next generation of chainsaw wielding workers.

This is the back of the building but what is most visible from the main road.

So many hands at work. This is Sencery taking a turn with the hedge trimmer.

Erin was immediately assigned door duty. Her task was to direct customers to the side door instead of the front and to make sure they “watched their step” and “watch for cords.” Apparently they didn’t trust her because they plastered the door with these signs after she took her post.

Casey, Amber and Natasha grabbed some rakes and cleaned up leaves and brush along the side of the building.

The buffet kept growing as more cooks showed up with sandwiches and extras.

This shows a more obvious difference the pressure washer made.

Painting pros busy making the front of the building beautiful.

Almost done. The cloudy skies and wet from the pressure washing made it difficult to dry paint and primer. There are a couple guys going out yet again today to finish off the details of the project.