Youth from Grace, St. John Roman Catholic and Westminster Presbyterian churches spent an afternoon at Waynesboro Area Refuge Ministry, sorting donated clothing for the Cold Weather Shelter, cleaning up fallen branches from the WARM House yard, and learning about the reality of homelessness in our area, including some fellow students at school.
Grace Youth participate in a "Green Hanger Project" - Grace youth with youth from four other downtown-area congregations for the second Youth Service Group event, that kicked off November of last year. This time, the Youth met at Embrace Community Center, located in the building of the former Wayne Hills United Methodist Church.
The Youth sorted through clothes donated primarily for High School youth, to have good clothes for school and the seasons of the year, which is the focus of Embrace's "Green Hanger Project." In addition to sorting clothes male/female, and warm/cold weather, the youth were also entrusted to sort clothes for wear and tear, and for "wearability" - clothes would be the type that youth would want to wear without being made fun of - with the usable clothes not selected to be donated to local senior facilities with populations who do not have resources to buy their own clothing. Some of our Youth also prepared "orders" of clothing placed by Youth in need, based on the gender and clothing sizes, picking from sorted clothing and shoes from the Green Hanger Project.
Pastor Jenelle Watson, who serves as Embrace's director, as well as serving at Calvary UMC in Stuart's Draft, gave a wonderful history of Wayne Hills UMC and Embrace, and shared with the Youth the importance of providing these clothes to local youth. She began this clothing ministry to youth after noticing children in the local school she was volunteering at wearing summer clothing in winter, and the same clothing each day. Further investigation revealed the need was far beyond just a family or two. The ministry now serves hundreds in our area, and the idea has spread to other areas of the country.
The Youth sorted through clothes donated primarily for High School youth, to have good clothes for school and the seasons of the year, which is the focus of Embrace's "Green Hanger Project." In addition to sorting clothes male/female, and warm/cold weather, the youth were also entrusted to sort clothes for wear and tear, and for "wearability" - clothes would be the type that youth would want to wear without being made fun of - with the usable clothes not selected to be donated to local senior facilities with populations who do not have resources to buy their own clothing. Some of our Youth also prepared "orders" of clothing placed by Youth in need, based on the gender and clothing sizes, picking from sorted clothing and shoes from the Green Hanger Project.
Pastor Jenelle Watson, who serves as Embrace's director, as well as serving at Calvary UMC in Stuart's Draft, gave a wonderful history of Wayne Hills UMC and Embrace, and shared with the Youth the importance of providing these clothes to local youth. She began this clothing ministry to youth after noticing children in the local school she was volunteering at wearing summer clothing in winter, and the same clothing each day. Further investigation revealed the need was far beyond just a family or two. The ministry now serves hundreds in our area, and the idea has spread to other areas of the country.
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YOUTH GROUP
Grace Youth attend The Virginia Synod statewide events at Eagle Eyrie Conference Center in Lynchburg Virginia (Web Page) These weekend and summer week events attract youth from all over the state, and are nationally known for their excellence in Faith Formation and fun! Our Youth also attend the tri-ennial ELCA National Youth Gathering (Web Page), an event that gathers over 30,000 youth for worship, faith formation and service. We also meet regularly with other local Lutheran and neighboring congregations for events throughout the year. See calendar and newletter for details!
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2018 National Youth Gathering,
Houston, Texas |