Started our day yesterday (Friday) waking up early and having some yummy donuts from Holy Toledough (great name for a donut shop in Toledo!!!) and headed to Cedar Point! The weather wasn’t the best midday, but the rain didn’t stop our fun! Pastor Kyle joined us as well!! We had a great day hanging out all together and going on rides.
Only ride that was open while it was raining – the train!Dancing in the rain! Playing Heads Up while we wait for a ride. Dinner in the parking lot. Chick-Fil-A!!!Dinner in the parking lot. Chick-Fil-A!!!
Today was our beach day! We had such a blast. Packed up and said goodbye to what was our home for the week, and headed to a beach on lake Eerie. We swam, played sand volleyball, and ate some yummy hamburgers and hot dogs (thanks to Kyle’s black stone). Got some sun and had some fun, and now we start our journey back home!
Kyle grilling for us. How sweet!Birthday cake for Kendall since her birthday is tomorrow, July 12th!!! Beach volleyball!
We had a great week together. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Loved being able to make the impact we did, and seeing the kids work together and do what they were called to do was truly amazing. God is good!
“Today was one of my favorite days of the trip! In the morning, we got to go to a church and we walked around downtown Toledo. We saw lots of art and learned about the history of Toledo! In the afternoon we got to go to an animal nursery and saw lots of wild animals who are hurt and getting better! We saw an opossum, a bunny, some snakes and a lot more! We had pasta for dinner then we went to see the Toy Story movie!! I had so much fun today!!”
-Carlie Rohe
“Hi, this is Libby. Today was a fab-tastic day!! We started off the day splitting into two groups, my least favorite activity cause I hate to watch my pals walk away! I personally went to St. Paul’s with my twin, Luke, important fact. There we met a wonderful lady, Kate. She was just great, honestly. She walked us around the city and showed us so much beautiful art which I love! After seeing the art we went back to the church and we moved a lot of stuff from the fourth floor to the Maker’s Space on the first floor, including a heavy pew that I moved with Luke (he tried to attack me with it!! But I survived.) We met back up with the pals for lunch (yay!) and went on a nature walk with Connor then went to our second activity at Nature’s Nursery. I pulled weeds while my twin & pals planted trees while playing Let It Grow. We finished off the night puzzling LOTS (we finished a lot, check out the picture), eating pasta, and sleeping through Toy Story 5 (in theaters)… we returned to the puzzle table and it was great until we ended the day in STENCH!!! And Connor cried. Love you all, Libby.”
After building the parts of the bed frames on Monday afternoon, tonight our group got to deliver beds to 8 children in need of a safe & comfortable place to sleep. The youth brought the beds into the rooms and worked with the kids to set up their own beds. Working together with drills and bolts then making their beds with care with new linens. It was a joyful night of hard work & community. We are all sleeping a little better knowing those 8 children are sleeping safely in their own beds tonight.
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!
Inside the cooler for a break! It was 36 degrees! Moved to the freezer that was -10!!
Today the weather cooperated with us so we got a full day of work in! We started off at Off the Streets Toledo, a five year organization that supports neighbors experiencing homelessness secure permit housing with security deposit assistances & furniture. Today we loaded up a truck with furniture and delivered them to two different homes. It was a such a blessing to be invited into these homes & be a small part of providing our neighbors a new start. Here is one of our youth’s experience of our morning:
“This morning we went to off the street Toledo and we helped deliver furniture to people with new homes. We delivered to 2 different homes today. But one of the people really stood out to me because of his story. His name is Jaymar and he told us that he went to prison for 7 years and got out around 7 weeks ago. And he runs an organization for at risk youth. After we moved in all the furniture we prayed and he preached to us and it was really inspiring.”
-Braden Longest
Our afternoon brought us to H.O.O.V.E.S. (Healing Of Our Veterans Equine Services). Their acreages house 35 horses, including mini horses, goats, pigs, chickens, a handful of cabins, and one main house. The property is used for week-long retreats with veterans & first responders experiencing PTSD to in order to turn “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder into Post Traumatic Growth”. While there we got to tour the space, spend time petting the animals, and the best part, of course, weeding! Hear about it first hand from our youth:
“My experience at Hooves was so fun! I loved being able to help out with the organization and see all the horses. I think that what they are doing is so important to veterans who are struggling. It was just the simple task of pulling weeds, but I am so glad i could help in a small way for such a great organization.”
Our first morning didn’t go quite to plan. Due to rain, we were not able to go to work with Clean Streams. But after a chill morning of group bonding, we headed to Let’s Build Beds to, well, build beds! This 8-year-old non-profit is run completely by volunteers and serves 100 mile radius around Toledo to provide children from families experiencing poverty. Our group helped to prep supplies for around 20 beds that will be delivered to children in the area that they will assemble themselves! Here is one youth’s experience of the afternoon of serving:
Today we went to Let’s Build Beds to assist in the creation and production of multiple bed frames to help many citizens receive a bed of their own. Our group participated in cutting boards, routing, drilling holes, assembling, and having a blast! -Luke Dixon
Our crew has made it safely to Toledo, Ohio! It was a fun & easy ride down. We’ve been enjoying the night getting to know our home away from home at Epiphany Lutheran Church. Stay tuned for all tomorrow has to offer!
I woke up later than all my other bunkmates on my side. They had gone to an off-site location earlier that morning, but I had asked to stay back because I wanted to finish the work I had started. I got ready for the day, ate a good breakfast, and got to work.
In the morning, the rest of us who stayed on-site worked to lay down the tarp and mulch. I helped transfer the mulch before being asked to assist with lining up the wooden border for the playground we’ve been working on the past few days. We worked hard to level the sunken ground and deal with the aftermath of the flooding caused by the hurricane. After spreading a lot of sand and securing the wood to the ground with rebar, the outline of the park was finally completed!
While that was going on, the others—after lunch—went down to the creek to help move large rocks. I stayed behind with Sam’s aunts and Pastor Kyle. From what I heard, they had a lot of fun playing in the water, soaking themselves as they worked, and getting covered in dirty creek water—they were quick to shower afterward!
Not long after, the group that had gone off-site returned from helping paint a house. Later, a speaker named Scott from Green Chalice talked to us about the climate, how North Carolina has been affected by the hurricane and flooding, and how we can use both our faith and our actions to help the community. That’s also when we received the exciting news that our church will officially become part of the Green Chalice movement starting August 1, 2025!
After all of this, we had dinner and swam in the pool with the other church group from Texas who had been volunteering alongside us. Then, we were treated to ice cream donated by an anonymous member of our church!
I couldn’t be more grateful for this church community and how much I’ve grown as a person and a follower of God through this experience. I hope to reflect the true strength, love, and power of God through my actions.
Today, we got the entire playground covered with tarp and made great progress mulching over it. We also moved rocks and trash out of the creek. Once we were in the creek, it got pretty deep, so we all ended up in water up to our waists. Despite the freezing cold water, we had loads of fun! – Piper
Today we finished laying all the tarps in the playground, then headed to the creek to clear out a bunch of trash. We spent most of the time in the creek, pulling out tarps, rocks, sticks, and branches. After about two and a half hours, we were walking and found a really deep part of the creek. We all got in, and Piper and I went all the way under—she even dunked me!
Later, I walked back over to the main entry point and got my shoe stuck. Eventually, I got it out and returned to the deep part of the creek, but I slipped on the rocks. Braden came over to help me up, but he cut his hand trying to climb back over the hill.
After all that, we went back to the cabins, showered, and then just hung out in the room for about an hour and a half! – Sage
Today we worked offsite at a different location, helping a homeowner whose house was damaged in the hurricane. We did a lot of sanding in various parts of the house. During our lunch break, we swam in the creek that was on the property and even got to pet the three goats the homeowner had. After lunch, we got back to work and continued sanding and doing other tasks that needed to be done around the house. It was a lot of fun and a nice change of environment. -Ava
Geist Christian Youth Service-Learning Trip Blog 