Look what my mom sent me from the LDS church news website. Pretty cool huh. Good Job Peoria Stake!!!!
Church News
Peoria Illinois Stake celebrates 30th anniversary with community service
Submitted by Peoria Illinois Stake Public Affairs
Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Peoria Illinois Stake, President David Cummings asked stake members to find a community service project to which they could contribute. On May 1, 11 wards and branches combined to perform more than 1,200 hours worth of service.
The Peoria Ward provided much-needed weed pulling at the Forest Park Nature Center. The 540-acre center is home to a nature preserve with seven miles of hiking trails through forested woodlands and prairie openings. Many Peorians frequent the center year-round for hiking and bird watching. Ward members as young as age 2, along with well-seasoned adults, came out for three hours to tackle the weeds growing on and along the hiking trails.
"It looked like an insurmountable task, but the Nature Center staff was so grateful for the areas we weeded," said Carrie Wood, who was assigned an area with a lot of mustard weed. "It was also a wonderful opportunity to work with our small children teaching them about service. Providing service also cemented more bonds with our ward family."
Members from the Galesburg Ward helped three local non-profit groups accomplish some meaningful tasks. At Safe Harbor Family Crisis Center, members distributed flowers from the center's spring fundraiser. Some of the youth made baby blankets and donated them to the center. Other ward members sorted and took inventory of toys and games at the Bright Futures Resource Center and members organized clothes at the Purple Hanger, a clothing store for youth.
The Boys and Girls Club benefited from help from the Normal 1st Ward. The Lawrence Irvin Neighborhood Center, which houses the Boys and Girls Club, received a fresh coat of paint. Members of the Church also provided outdoor beautification at the Unity Community Center in nearby Bloomington by washing windows, painting walls and parking lots, laying mulch and other outdoor activities.
The Normal 2nd Ward helped make Constitution Trail, a 24-mile hard surfaced nature trail, cleaner for walkers and bikers alike. The ward focused a one-mile stretch of trail that runs near Underwood Park by picking up trash in that area.
Colonial Hall Care Center in Princeton received members from the Princeton Branch with open arms. The members brought board games, storybooks and coloring books to entertain the center's elderly residents for three hours. Several residents read storybooks to the younger children while the older children read to the residents. Some of the residents opted to color in coloring books with children and adults from the branch.
"We had so much fun with the residents," said branch member Cathy Fairbanks. "It was the best project we could have chosen to get even the youngest members involved. The residents loved it so much that they wanted us to come back as often as we could."
The town of Kewanee provides a free breakfast for the community three times a year. The Kewanee Branch's members approached the town asking if they could be a part of the May 1 breakfast as service to the community. The Kewanee Branch spent several hours at the American Legion Hall setting up, cooking, serving, cleaning up and tearing down.
"Our 10 volunteers helped others in the community feed over 1,000 people," said Kewanee Branch President Dan Schoeheider. "It was a great opportunity to build better relationships with the people of the community."
Havana Branch members assembled and presented 82 May Day baskets to residents and staff of Havana Healthcare. The baskets included flowers, snack items, a bookmark, a pencil, a writing pad and a pedigree chart for residents to note their memories of their ancestors. They also spent some time visiting with residents and allowing them to reminisce about their childhood and early years.
The Canton Branch helped Farmington, a neighboring town, clean up trash at Township Park. The members of the branch also helped plant flowers provided by the town council in and around the park.
Members of the Monmouth Branch got together to tie fleece lap blankets that were then donated to Starting Point, a local women's shelter. Starting Point is a habilitation and recovery program. Starting Point offers a stable home environment that allows mentoring/counseling in areas of character, life skills, education, vocation and spiritual needs. The blankets allowed the members to show their concern and love for the women in this shelter.
Members of the Morton Ward chose a popular park to clean up. At 108 acres, Northwood Park is the largest park in Morton. This park is popular for sledding in the winter and 18 holes of frisbee golf during the spring, summer and fall. The members were quite surprised to see the kinds of trash that they found and collected. Lori Johnson said, "We found all kinds of things. The two most interesting pieces we found were a large safe and a bed frame."
Bishop Leonard Pineda of the Pekin Ward told of how the ward combined their efforts with those of the city for a citywide clean-up day. "Many cities and towns in central Illinois have groups, businesses and organizations adopt a street to help maintain cleanliness of that particular street. Our ward has adopted 14th Street, the street that the meetinghouse sits on. On May 1, we organized many members to help clean up trash and debris along 14th Street. We also provided manpower all day at various drop-off stations in Pekin. Residents of Pekin use the drop-off stations to dump items that they would normally have to pay to dump at a landfill." Bishop Pineda said the service was tiring but rewarding in many ways.
© 2010 Deseret News Publishing Company
Second:
Thank you to all who helped out with the blood drive. We had 17 units of blood donated. And a special thanks to those who came and helped run the drive. I really appreciate it.
Third:
Don't forget that tomorrow is the card making night at the church. We will be making cards for the patients at Methodist hospital. Be at the church at 6:30. Refreshments will be provided. And if you want to bring any of your own scrapbooking supplies feel free. See you there.
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