U.S. covenant partners update: National Day of Service weekend

The National Day of Service is Sunday, the 10^th anniverary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. There many memorials and services going on across the nation and plenty of ways to mark the somber anniversary. One way many people are marking the anniversary is by serving others this weekend.

Because Sept. 11 falls on a Sunday this year, many of those service events will be held on Saturday, including a major build day at the Ginger Ford Northshore Fuller Center in Hammond, La.

“We have a big project going on this weekend in conjunction with the National Day of Service,” said Ginger Ford Northshore’s Tamara Danel. Danel said about 80 women from the Theta Phi Alpha chapter at Southeasten Louisiana University will participate in five different projects with Ginger Ford Northshore: one new build, two Greater Blessing projects, one rehab project and one session of work in the ReUse store.

“They wanted to come out and work on the National Day of Service weekend, so they called and wanted to know what they can do to help,” Danel added.

Among other Fuller Center projects going on, The Greater Atlanta Fuller Center will work at the L’Arche USA home in Atlanta on Saturday. According to L’Arche’s website, “L’Arche communities bear witness to the reality that persons with intellectual disabilities possess inherent qualities of welcome, wonderment, spirituality, and friendship. We make explicit the dignity of every human being by building inclusive communities of faith and friendship where people with and without intellectual disabilities share life together. L’Arche USA exists to strengthen our local communities, welcome more people into our life and work, engage in advocacy on behalf of those often on the margins of society, and to raise awareness of the gifts of persons with intellectual disabilities.”

On Sunday, Greater Atlanta will be doing some outdoor work at Atlanta Fire Station No. 2. The covenant partner did extensive work on Fire Station No. 9 in June.

“It’s part the community renewal aspect of The Fuller Center and building good will in the community, but more importantly to remember those who lost their lives on Sept. 11 – not just the first responders, but all the people who lost their lives,” said Greater Atlanta President Mark Galey. “

Their metro neighbor, the Henry County Fuller Center will be working Friday and Saturday, restoring the home of Betty Thompson in McDonough, Ga.

The Augusta-Harrisburg Fuller Center in Augusta, Ga., will be holding one of its “block parties” on Saturday. Volunteers are asked to meet at 1596 Broad St. and to bring gear for outdoor work from 8 a.m. to noon. Visit their “Turn Back the Block” website to learn more about the event and to register. Also, a big thanks goes out to Knology for providing Saturday’s lunch to volunteers!

The Americus-Sumter Fuller Center will be working on a home in Cusseta in its first big project under new director Alyssa Hostetler. To learn more about Alyssa, click here.

Other covenant partners are encouraged to email Director of Communications Chris Johnson at cjohnson@fullercenter.org if they have events going on this weekend in conjunction with the National Day of Service – and be sure to contact Chris to be listed in other covenant partner updates.

Click here for a directory of U.S. covenant partners with their contact information if you want to learn more about their upcoming projects and find out how you can get involved.