Our 7th Christmas in April had 58 people participate! It's really wonderful that so many people are interested in helping needy homeowners in our community who, without help, would not be able to upkeep their homes. Due to commitments and extremely rainy weather, we lost part of our group, but we still had enough people to separate into two house projects.
Stacey Matthews headed a team working on a house in Hyattsville. She had quite a few of the youth on her team, as well as some of their parents. Pastor Joye had her first experience, getting very dirty! They were teamed with PG County firefighters and EMS' so they had a good group. The work was mainly cleaning out the junk and hubris. You should've seen the curb pile!! The backyard cleanup was wet but determined. Everyone was commenting on what a great difference was made in the yard! Some great and caring neighbors pitched in to help their neighbor. An old fashioned cookout concluded the rainy but successful day.
Janice Taggart headed a team working on a house in Mt. Rainer. Half of the tasks were inside the house. For a while this was good -- until too many painters became a challenge. Moving furniture to paint around and behind was a huge task. The carpenters in our group built shelves in all the closets and fixed a wheelchair ramp into the house. Some very soggy but attractive gardening was accomplished in the front yard.
Thanks to everyone who made this another successful GSUMC effort!!
---Janice Taggart
