Today marks just over a month that I have lived in this beautiful place called Hope College. Reflecting, I amazed by all that has happened in such a short amount of time. One of the many wonderful happenings was on my second Saturday here – Time to Serve.
During Orientation weekend our small group leaders passed around a signup sheet for something called “Time to Serve.” They said it was a really fun opportunity to get out into the Holland community and serve. So, I thought I’d give it a try and put my name down.
The following weekend I got up, walked over to Phelps and found a dining hall full of college students excited to be up on a Saturday morning to serve their community.
My group contained 8 girls and our site was Nuestra Casa. Nuestra Casa began as an abandoned home in Holland’s Westcore Neighborhood and became a collaborative project of Nueva Comunidad/Fourth Reformed Church, Good Samaritan Ministries, Women’s Service Day and the Westcore Neighbors to create a gathering place for the neighborhood. Over the last three years these groups have been hard at work renovating and we were lucky enough to get the chance to help out. We spent the day painting primer and helping complete the access ramp. It was so much fun to get out into the community and help some amazing people get closer to achieving their goal. You can read more about Nuestra Casa here. 🙂
Time to Serve is just one of the amazing opportunities Hope has to promote growth and to gain service and leadership experience while getting acquainted with the Holland community. Over 400 students served at nearly 40 different sites in the Holland/Zeeland area. For more information you can read the story in the Holland Sentinel and check out the photo gallery from the day!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
~Erin
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