This is Part 9 of our Thursday Leadership Lesson series on Service. Today, we will give you some practical ideas for service opportunities for your group.
Alright, let’s bring this service thing down to the most practical level possible. Here are several upcoming and ongoing opportunities that your group could plug into. The beauty of these opportunities is that all of the difficult planning work has already been done by our amazing NCC staff or other leaders. All you have to do is jump in.
OUR FOCUS PROJECT
Angel Tree
If your group only does one service project this semester, this should be it. We would encourage every small group to consider adopting an Angel Tree child this Christmas. There are some groups thinking about adopting more than one. Let’s break last year’s record. You can read more information here.
Contact:
UPCOMING PROJECTS
Fill the Bus
Donate clothes, school supplies, and non-perishable food items to load a bus for the Dominican Republic. You can bring items to the Leadership Summit on November 11. Read more here.
Contact:
Thanksgiving Lunch
Be a part of a big lunch with our friends in the homeless community on November 18. Read more here.
Contact:
Live Nativity
Bring your group out to sing in the angel choir, wrap up in sheets as a shepherd, or serve coffee and the love of Christ at our annual live nativity.
Contact:
In Service Lunches
Make lunches for In Service to hand out on Sundays or dinners for the In Service Living Room group on Wednesday nights.
Contact:
Help an Elderly Neighbor
Each month, Heather Gonzales’ Generations group goes to the home of an elderly person to do household chores, run errands, and share the love of Christ in a practical way. Get your group involved in this inter-generational ministry by emailing Heather.
Contact:
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES IN THE COMMUNITY
The following is a list of outreach opportunities in our communities that NCC has partnered with.
Young Life
Like kids? Several NCCers have invested their lives into Young Life to build relationships with and make lasting impacts on the young people in our communities. Check them out here. The best way to find out more about Young Life is to invite their amazing leader (and NCCer) Chris Girardi to your group to share the vision of Young Life and describe the ways that your group can be involved.
Contact: ">Chris Girardi or ">Elizabeth Hanna
Southeast White House
The Southeast White House is a house on the hill for all people. A place for black and white, rich and poor, young and old to come together in the spirit of Christ. There are many opportunities to get involved in this ministry. Colleen Irwin leads the Mom’s Night Out Program. Your group could make dinners, help with the activities, or watch kids so the moms can enjoy a nice dinner and time of fellowship. There are also homework clubs, Awana Bible clubs, and reconciliation lunches.
Contact: or
Food and Friends
Prepare food and help deliver meals to those in our community suffering from HIV/AIDS. Along with nutrition counseling, Food & Friends prepares, packages and delivers meals and groceries to more than 1,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-challenging illnesses throughout Washington, DC, 7 counties of Maryland and 7 counties and 6 independent cities in Virginia. Check out their website for more information. **The first outreach I did at NCC was to deliver sandwiches for Food and Friends.
Contact:
ONE LAST THING
We want to create a list of organizations and opportunities in our communities. If you would like to be a part of a team to pull together that list, please email . Also, if your group has worked with an organization that you would like to recommend, please use the comment thread below.
Our group had an awesome time volunteering at N Street Village, an organization dedicated to the prevention and elimination of homelessness among women. N Street is an amazing organization, with a range of services (including a day and night shelter, a wellness center, and employment training). During the volunteer orientation, we learned a little bit about the history of homelessness in DC (and around Logan Circle in particular), some of the unique challenges faced by homeless women, and how one church (Luther Place Memorial Church) decided to respond in a very practical way to the growing problem of homelessness in its neighborhood.
We spent the evening serving dinner at the night shelter, but had the opportunity to spend time hanging out with some of the women at the night shelter.
For more info, check out:
http://www.nstreetvillage.org/getinvolved/volunteer.cfm#groups
Joseph
Joseph Llobrera
November 2nd, 2006
Heather -
Thanks for letting people know about these opportunities - so many great things going on in DC! Thanks too for NCC’s great support of Young Life -we appreciate you guys so much!
Erin
November 3rd, 2006
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The Zone Gathering » Blog Archive » Thursday Leadership Lesson: Service Review
December 6th, 2006