Do you have a day set aside for volunteers to do a postwinter clean up at your church? Why not use that time, instead, to clean up your community? Get out, enjoy the sunshine and brighten your neighbors’ day by serving.
► Contact your local parks organization and find out what needs to be done and where. Then send age-appropriate teams of volunteers to pick up trash, pull weeds, etc. Build a partnership with your parks—you may want to use them as venues for future events.
► Landscape local senior living centers with brightly colored flowers and bushes. Also, consider enlisting Sunday school children to plant small individual flowers (e.g., marigolds or petunias) in cups affixed with Scripture verses. Deliver to the residents for their windowsills.
► Ask members for the names of neighbors who may need help with yard work—those who have recently lost a loved one, are currently battling cancer, single moms, families with a parent in the military overseas. Send a team of volunteers to ready their house and yard for spring—clean out gutters, rake, plant, etc. Then invite them to church.