Half way through our week and half way done with our work in Toledo. We spent the morning split up into two different groups, half of us going to St. Lucas Lutheran and the other half to St. Paul Lutheran to help them prepare to serve our neighbors in Toledo. Both churches serve daily meals and provide services to fill in the gap caused by poverty in their neighborhoods. We gathered together for lunch with a view of the river downtown and then went together to Seagate Food Bank which serves 9 counties in Ohio, mainly in the Toledo area. They had us assisting in the garden which provides fresh food for their veterans services. The youth picked over-ripe strawberries, filled watering buckets, planted onions, and of course (our favorite activity) weeded! With their main garden volunteer out with an extended illness, the staff continually thanked the kids for their efforts. Even though it was hot out and not everyone enjoyed their tasks, everyone kept a good attitude and focused on what was important: helping support the staff and volunteers to ensure that our veteran neighbors in Toledo and the surrounding areas are able to have fresh food.
Hear about our day from the youth who experienced it! The first from one who went to St. Lucas Lutheran Church & the second who went to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church:
“Today one half of the group went to Saint Lucas. It was a very big church and they help the community in many different ways. They help out people with many different scenarios and we helped the church out by cleaning the place and prepping for the less fortunate to come and eat lunch. Then we went to Sea Gate Food Bank. While we spent time there me and Harper picked strawberries and separated the ripe ones and the ones that were moldy. We then went into the freezers to cool off for a bit did a little more work and then left.”
-Lila Dietrich
“This morning we split into groups of 9. My group went to st.pauls. at St. Pauls we got a tour, met a police captain, and Nicolas the ghost. At st. Pauls we also moved nativitys down from the third floor to the first floor.
In the afternoon we went to Seagate Food Bank and weeded the garden. We also planted, picked, pruned, and weeded plants. During a water break we went to two fridges and a freezer. We then ate Hannah’s Ice Cream.(Ice cream from a shop called Hannah’s Ice Cream.)”
-Breann Donoho
Check out our day through pictures & stay tuned for more adventures of serving coming later tonight!
Geist Christian Youth Service-Learning Trip Blog 