Live 2 Serve

2010 Livingston Christmas Store Set-Up Event

2010-12-18T09:11:00.000-05:00

The smell of sloppy joes filled the air as people arrived. One by one, family by family the troops were rallying to "build" the Christmas store. There was much work to be done. The tables were moved, trees and decorations were put up, and most importantly (for some) the bounce house was ready!
The Live2Serve event was a success. Friday night everyone who participated in setup knew they were doing something good for people in need, but the lives touched by the Christmas store will be immeasurable. For the single mom struggling or the family whose breadwinner just lost their job, the stories are countless and one of them may just be your neighbor. We can only hope those who will be able at some point in the future, just "pay it forward." Then we can imagine that this time wasn't just our family and friends helping out for a few hours at church, but rather a gift to the future from those touched by the Christmas store.

Christmas store was a wonderful serving opportunity for us to help out with. Whether you helped Friday, Saturday, Sunday or bought a gift or made a salad. THANK YOU! Your efforts are appreciated and it wouldn't have been the same without you.

November 13th 2010 L2S Event: Decorating Seneca Street at GCH

2010-11-15T19:47:00.004-05:00

The day began with a glorious sunrise and the warmth of the sun on our faces, I just knew that God’s presence would be among the 35 plus volunteers from the River Community Church as we descended upon Pontiac and Grace Centers for Hope for the annual Christmas decorating of Seneca Street.

Over the years, Grace Centers for Hope has diligently worked to purchase abandoned housing and convert/refurbish this housing to fill the needs of displaced families across our communities, including abused women and children. The River’s Live 2 Serve compassion team has worked with Grace Centers for Hope on various occasions and have always been humbled by the Heavenly Spirit that envelopes whatever we can do to help/serve, this occasion would be different.

The original intentions and direction given to our team were to “decorate two –to three of the Seneca Street houses”.

Once the game plan was devised and an inventory of decorations performed, we divided and conquered…..Decorating six (6) houses and the community park, all within our three (3) hour time limit! The deserved families could not believe their eyes as the came outside from their homes to find the Glory of Christmas on their streets.

Trees being decorated…..

Garland flying along the porches…..

Stars and beads spiraled around the columns…..

Wreaths up on the houses…..

Thousands of lights wrapped and displayed…..

Nativity scene placed for the park…..

And still found time to organize the storage room in the basement of the Grace Center Chapel….

All I can say as the interim lead for this event is WOW! Live 2 Serve is truly blessed to have such an incredible team, families and volunteers.

Being the hands and feet of JESUS is so much fun and I hope to see you on the next Live 2 Serve project.

Kicking Bear Event

2010-09-02T13:28:00.004-04:00

Blessed to be a blessing! Live2Serve had the honor to serve at the Kicking Bear Camping event held at Livingston Conservation & Sports Association on August 27 & 28th in Brighton Michigan.

God's presence was in abundance from:
- Glorious weather
- Opportunity to lock arms and share God's love and nature with 211 disadvantage youth.
- FUN: Hats and Tee shirts for all; Games including Dunk Tank; Marshmallow Roast Kicking Bear style (i.e. 10,000+ marshmallow fight - looked like snow in August); Bon Fire complete with Ray Howell, founder of Kicking Bear sharing his story of salvation; Craig Mortz's inviting youth to give their hearts to the Lord with a Salvation poem; and distribution of New Testaments and that was JUST Friday night! Saturday provided one-on-one mentoring to youth with archery. The event wrapped up with an awesome raffle for both Volunteers and Participants.
- FOOD with the help of our volunteers, we served 3 meals to 350+ people - and we had some hungry campers.
- Opportunity to partner with Kensington Field & Stream Team (FAST)

The list goes on and on - check out some of the pictures and mark your calendars for next years event (Last weekend in August)

Mixing it Up with Christmas in July for Operation Christmas Child Project

2010-09-02T12:28:00.001-04:00

Live2Serve partnered with Samaritan's Purse to host a Christmas in July event this year. True to River's Mission & Vison they jumped on board to match every box filled with a “Greatest Journey” donation, which is the Beyond the Box discipleship program to help children become faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

Even though the official drive in the lobby is over, the actual collection week for Michigan is not until Mid-November. With that being said, there is still time for those of you who missed the drive and want to participate... Just stop by the Welcome Center table any Sunday to obtain a shoe box(s) and instructions or to drop off your filled box(s). To date over 240 boxes have been collected.

What a wonderful opportunity to the touch the heart of a child =))

Thanks for being the hands and feet of Jesus in action.

Live 3rd changes name to Live 2 Serve

2010-07-19T11:04:00.000-04:00

Same ministry - just a new name!

Live 3rd June Events at CDC and Pretty Pony Pastures

2010-06-25T12:00:00.000-04:00

On June 19th Live 3rd hosted two different serving opportunities.

A cleaning crew at CDC in Detroit assisted in sprucing up the building being used for Summer Camp. We cleaned the kitchen and cafetaria area, Restrooms, and completed minor repair on their gym chairs. The Executive Director Lisa Johanson was so appreciate of all our efforts and kind donation of cleaning supplies.

Another crew served at Pretty Pony Pastures helping with some much needed general barn and grounds cleaning and maintenance. Linda Watson was so grateful for our much needed support.

What a blessing to have the opportunity to be the hands and feet of Jesus - Thanks team - it is an honor to serve with you!

14th Annual Detroit Kids Fishing Derby

2010-05-27T19:15:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, May 22, 2010, The Live 3rd team was blessed by an opportunity to serve in our regional community at the 14th annual Detroit Area Kids Fishing Derby. This event is co-hosted by Gary Williams, President of Hook, Line and Sinker, Inc. and the Detroit Recreation Department.
578 young anglers from across the metropolitan area converged on Palmer Park and Lake Francis for a day of fun and fishing even the rain and mud were unable to dampen our spirits. No grass was growing under our volunteers feet, we were hopping between supporting registration; assembling goody bags complete with tackle boxes for the young anglers; the Tackle Shop was crazy busy, volunteers prepared 500 fishing poles for the start of the event but soon realized that was just the beginning… next was repairs (restringing and untangling) – estimate 1000+ awesome teamwork; meanwhile the Food tent was busy preparing and serving lunch to all of our guest. The afternoon lightened up and we got the opportunity to work with the youth and provide some much needed mentoring in the art of fishing.
There was a great sense of satisfaction among the volunteers as they saw the enthusiasm on the faces of each and every youngster as they participated in the 14th Annual Detroit Area Kids Fishing Derby. It was a true joy for all to see and to be a part of. Watching the children as they fished with anticipation of a fish grabbing their hook and taking it off was a pleasure and true heart-warming experience.
This was a rewarding opportunity to touch the lives of others in a positive way, and each of the volunteers was touched in a special way by having been a part of this event.
Gary Williams was so grateful for all we did to make the day extra special and memorable for the Detroit youth and wanted to make sure a warm heartfelt thanks was extended to all on his behalf and hopes to see us at the 15th Annual Fishing Derby (always the Saturday prior to the Memorial Day Weekend).

Promise Village

2010-04-15T13:23:00.000-04:00

Saturday, April 10th, was a God-filled day for the Live 3rd and North Ridge volunteers. We converged on Promise Village, in Holly, MI to execute a plan that would take us all to new heights of appreciation of what we all take for granted. The only thing that seemed bigger than the assembly of volunteers was the long list of projects that needed to be completed.
Given the scope of the projects, we extended the usual 3 hour serving event to 5 hours and Promise Village residents made sure everyone had plenty to eat and drink. The team worked on various projects throughout the 72 acre campus.
One of the major projects was to spruce up the grounds of the main house. Weeds were pulled, beds cleaned, yard raked, bushes and trees trimmed an all around clean up including spreading 9 yards of mulch and 6 yards of dirt. Rakes, Shovels, and trimmers were roaring with activity throughout the day.
Another of the projects was working in the barn and indoor arena. Stalls were cleaned and left over hay bales from winter were moved and rotated to preserve their freshness and restocked with an additional ~500 bales of hay for the spring and summer season. The outdoor arena was tilled and leveled out to prepare it for a season of riding. Additionally, in order to restore the riding program, the mile long trail needed to have many fallen trees removed and widened. The roar of chainsaws was a constant sound throughout the day and the volunteers were able to re-open the trail for the summer riding program.
Some of the other activities included the removal of a large wood pile from the campfire area; brush clean out around the outbuildings and a huge burn pile to take care of the evidence of the day’s efforts. There was no hiding the results of the day, though, as there were smiles all around, tired smiles as they may be.
It was a rewarding day all around. Promise Village was able to knock out a number of nagging items on their project list and the volunteers were glad to have the chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus. The rewards to the volunteers dwarf the benefits enjoyed and much appreciated by the organization.

Live 3rd at Gleaners

2010-03-11T09:23:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, March 6th, the Live 3rd team was blessed by an opportunity to serve in our regional community. Gleaners Food Bank feeds thousands of people every day and the Live 3rd team was excited to be a part of it.
The team of volunteers was eager to make a difference in the lives of others. If anyone liked carrots, they were in carrot heaven this day. Volunteers of all ages were able to participate and make a difference. It was a great opportunity for the younger volunteers to see how much difference just one person can make.
Gleaners Food Bank is able to provide 3 meals for just one dollar ($1.00). When you consider that $.95 of every dollar donated goes to the program, they are able to provide critical nutrition to a vast number of people in our regional community for a small amount of money. Making every dollar go as far as possible is critical to the success of the program.
In only 3 hours of work, the volunteers were able to package 4,320 pounds of carrots. Additionally, they were able to pull 11 orders, consisting of 19,442 pounds of food. In total, the volunteers were able to get almost 25,000 pounds of food ready. What does all this translate into? When you consider that one pound = one meal, the volunteers were able to prepare meals for 25,000 people in just 3 hours of work.
We are a blessed people to have so much to give and feel fortunate to have the opportunity to share our blessings with others.

Grace Centers of Hope Event

2010-01-27T12:37:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, January 23, 2010, The Live 3rd team visited Grace Centers of Hope, located in Pontiac, with 57 volunteers ready to make a difference in the lives of others. Grace Centers of Hope is Oakland County’s oldest and largest homeless shelter providing hope and help since 1942. The Live 3rd volunteers helped with various tasks in a few different operating areas.
Two teams of volunteers helped with painting two of the refurbished homes on Seneca Street. Grace Centers of Hope has about 12 homes on Seneca Street and continues to acquire additional properties and homes in the area so they can be revitalized and returned to their original architecture, and rented to graduates of the Two Year Aftercare Program at Grace Centers of Hope.
Another team volunteered to break up and move broken concrete that was piled up behind one of the refurbished homes on Seneca Street.
Yet another team worked in the basement of the church, cleaning and preparing the area for a Children’s Ministry program. They cleaned, organized, painted and assembled various items such as toys and a crib.
Still another team traveled to one of the Grace Centers of Hope Thrift Stores, to sort and organize donations. Proceeds from the thrift store go directly to support the 200 men, women, and children who permanently reside at Grace Centers of Hope.
Some of the volunteers were treated to a personalized tour of the various ministries, by Pastor Kent Clark. We saw the various properties that are owned and those that are in the process of being acquired. Pastor Clark also took us on a guided walking tour of the mission building where we saw how the center operates on a daily basis and all of the good it does for the community. Grace Centers of Hope accepts no government funds of any kind and relies solely on private contributions and volunteers.
This was a rewarding opportunity to touch the lives of others in a positive way, and each of the volunteers was touched in a special way by having been a part of this event.

Pretty Pony Pasture Event

2009-09-25T17:41:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, September 19^th, the Life 3^rd team organized a work party at Pretty Pony Pastures, in Davisburg, Michigan. As many as 50 volunteers participated in this family friendly event. Pretty Pony Pastures specializes in therapeutic riding programs for persons with physical, emotional, and mental disabilities. Pretty Pony Pastures was founded by Tom and Linda Watson, who maintain the various programs offered. They rely heavily on the abilities and gifts of volunteers to keep the programs going.

The maintenance of the 27 acres that surround Pretty Pony Pastures has become more than can be managed by the owners. Live 3^rd arrived to a long list of maintenance and cleaning projects. With chainsaws and weed whackers roaring, volunteers managed to clear a 3 foot wide path around the perimeter of the 5 acre pasture where the horses spend their time. This was an essential maintenance item because overgrown vegetation was within the reach of the horses, resulting in some dietary difficulties.

Another team of volunteers cleared the 5 acre pasture of manure while others washed down the stalls, disinfecting the stall area and preventing potential health hazards to the horses. All the while, volunteers enjoyed the company of 13 Haflinger horses who are both friendly and curious. This was an unexpected surprise for many of the volunteers…especially the children.

The Live 3^rd volunteers were able to hang bulletin boards, remove cobwebs (#1 one fire hazard in a barn), put a fresh coat of paint on a planter, and provide maintenance to the 10 sliding stall doors. All volunteers quickly became aware of what goes into managing a facility such as this and the many tasks that are taken for granted.

Linda and Tom expressed profound gratitude for all of the work that was completed. They were thrilled that we were able to complete so many of the items on the list and feel well-prepared for the Fall and Winter season that is fast approaching.

There was a great sense of satisfaction among the volunteers as they saw a great transformation in only 3 hours. The Live 3^rd Team is grateful for the many Men, Women, and Children who took a few hours out of their Saturday to provide a great service to the community and the people who are served by Pretty Pony Pastures.

September Event

2009-09-02T07:46:00.000-04:00

September 19th
Our next project is quickly approaching. We are going back to an organization called Pretty Pony Pastures in Davisburg. They specialize in therapeutic riding programs designed for persons of any age with physical, mental or emotional disabilities.

We will be helping them with general maintenance of the grounds and barns.Our project is set for September 19th at 10 am. This is a great project to bring the whole family too.

Sign up begins this Sunday, so stop by the table for more info. You can also check out their website to learn more about them.

We hope you can make it.

Community Garden Update

2009-09-02T07:41:00.000-04:00

Just a little update on the garden.....

So far this year we have been able to directly help about 5 families from the River by providing them with vegetables. This was based on recommendations from different life group and church leaders. We have also made about 6 donations of various sized to Gleaners throughout the season. We've provided herbs, tomatoes, summer squash, zucchini, cucumber, peppers, beans, and potatoes with these donations.

Now comes the fun part..... The tomatoes are finally starting to really ripen and we will have close to a 1/2 ton to give away (literally). Also, the potatoes are almost ready to harvest and we will have quite a bit of them to give away as well. If you or anyone you know can benefit from either the tomatoes or potatoes, please let me know. We don't really have to be choosy in who gets them because there will be plenty to go around.

Our plan is to take care of as many people within the church 1st and take leftovers to Gleaners.

If anyone has any interest, please contact live3rdgarden@gmail.com to make arrangements.

July 11th

2009-06-26T11:19:00.000-04:00

Our next project is quickly approaching. We will be working with an organization called Pretty Pony Pastures in Davisburg. They specialize in therapeutic riding programs designed for persons of any age with physical, mental or emotional disabilities. We will be helping them with general maintenance of the grounds and barns.

Our project is set for July 11th at 10 am. This is a great project to bring the whole family too.

Sign up begins this Sunday, so stop by the table for more info.
You can also check out their website to learn more about them.

We hope you can make it,

Community Garden

2009-05-16T16:41:00.001-04:00

The purpose of The River Community Garden is to grow a plot of fresh vegetables for people in the community who would otherwise be unable to obtain them. Vegetables will be donated
to local families that have need and to local food banks. The Community Garden will be
located at the River property on Old US23. It will contain a wide selection of vegetables and herbs.

May 30th - Planting Day- we are looking for donations of several plants, seeds, garden hoses and sprinklers as well as volunteers to help plant all the plants.

If you are interested in helping out with this project, or would like to donate some of the needed supplies, please contact Dave Hallman @ 248-789-2320 or via email: live3rdgarden@gmail.com

This is a great project for the whole family!

June Project

2009-05-16T16:28:00.000-04:00

We will be heading the Grace Centers of Hope on Saturday, June 6th. Grace Centers is located at 35 E Huron St, Pontiac. Grace Centers of Hope is considered one of the leading faith-based organizations in Southeastern Michigan daily confronting issues of homelessness, addiction, poverty and spiritual emptiness. On any given night, Grace Centers of Hope will accommodate between 150-200 men, women and children. We will be preparing and serving lunch to the residents of Grace Centers. Please consider signing up to help us, the lunch shift runs from 10:30 - 1 pm. We need 12 people for this project.

Please make sure you wear closed toe shoes and if you have long hair be sure to pull it back.

Spring Hill

2009-03-29T17:39:00.000-04:00

Have you heard about our Spring Hill Event happening April 24 - 26? We will be leaving "convoy style" on April 24 at 9am to drive to Spring Hill. We will enjoy 3 days of fun activities, fellowship and serving for a total of only $30 per person including meals and amenities. We currently have 62 people confirmed and are certain to have even more, and you are going to want to be one of them. Be sure to sign up soon at the Compassions table if you want to be part of this outstanding family event.

March Project

2009-02-14T15:49:00.000-05:00

Our next project will be here before you know it. It is scheduled for Sat, March 28th at 10 am. We will be working with Promise Village Home for Children, helping them with a mass mailing project. We will be helping them collate, stuff and seal 13,000 envelopes! This mass mailing project is an essential part of the fund raising efforts for Promise Village, so our help is greatly appreciated. Due to the nature of this project it is not suited for children under the age of 8. We will be meeting directly at Promise Village -11511 Terrace Rd, Holly MI. Mark your calendars - We hope to see you there.

Sleeping Bag Handout - 1/24/09

2009-01-30T10:21:00.000-05:00

On a Saturday afternoon, a group of Live 3rd volunteers piled in to two vans and headed to downtown Detroit to pass out sleeping bags to the homeless living on the streets. Along with the sleeping bags we also handout out kits containing hates, gloves, socks, food, personal hygiene items and a Bible.

Thank you to those who donated items for the kits, to those who donated money to cover the cost of a sleeping bag, and to those who went out and delivered the sleeping bags. Thanks to your generous donations were able to increase the number of bags we gave out this year.

Geoff Caddell:

As one of the leaders of Live3rd and one of the guys that went out on this Sleeping bag mission, I can tell you this is an awesome event. The first year we did this project we were able to find a group of homeless persons in the underground section at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit.

This year we made the mistake of going out while the Auto Show was in progress, but we were still able to find those in need with a little more determination. Thanks to all the people who donated monies and items that went along with the bags. We were forced to split the cargo into 2 minivans having too many sleeping bags than could fit in one van was an awesome problem to have. While one team of guys scoured the streets of Detroit the other team went by the nearby bridge underpasses were they found over 10 people in need of bags.

The van that I was in had a little bit harder time finding people on the streets but we were able to find some. One man unparticular, Sheldon, was standing in an intersection with a “will work for food sign” we spotted him as we drove by the intersection, Steve James the driver of our van quickly pulled to the side as Ben Carpenter and I jumped out and ran to street corner and yelled to the man if he wanted a sleeping bag, Sheldon ran over to us almost getting hit by a car in the process. He was so excited to have a bag and the package of items that we gave him along with it. Ben and I talked to him for a couple minutes while he told us that there were more people that use the bags we had at a local warming center. After talking to Sheldon and telling him to keep warm and safe he shook our hands and we were off to find the warming center that he had talked about. We were able to meet up with the other van and together both vans dropped of the remaining bags to the warming center.

To put the night in perspective even though we had a little bit rougher time finding people that could use the bags finding that one person, Sheldon and taking a few minutes to talk to him, while almost standing in the middle of the street at a busy intersection, even just for a couple minutes was well worth it.

Basket Night - 11/26/08

2008-12-10T08:41:00.000-05:00

We just want to take a moment to say a heartfelt thank you to each and everyone of you who served with us one Wed. night. Whether you helped sort food at Gleaners Food Bank or delivered Thanksgiving meals to families in need, your service was truly a blessing to others in our community. The fact that you took time out of your holiday to to be the hands of feet of Jesus is proof that people at The River are not satisfied with just "going" to church, but we want to "be" the church. Your willingness to serve and show God's compassion to others is humbling and inspiring. Thank you for your servant hearts.

Thanksgiving Baskets

2008-11-07T08:43:00.000-05:00

Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming Thanksgiving Baskets Project -

When: Wed. November 26th at 6:00pm

Where: PAC

What you need to bring: Just yourselves, food is being provided. You just show up, fill a box, grab a map and deliver. Easy as that!

Please note: There are a limited number of spaces available for delivering a basket. It is essential that you sign up beforehand to let us know you are planning on being there to deliver a basket, so we can make sure we have accurate counts.

Thank you!

Promise Village

2008-11-01T16:14:00.000-04:00

Sat., Nov 1st, we spent the day at Promise Village working on several different projects. A few of the projects were: cleaning the horse barns, clearing the horse trails of downed trees and brush, weed eating everything in sight, rototilled their garden, - and so much more. It was a great day - Thank you to all the volunteers who helped on this day.

Rescheduled Promise Village

2008-10-26T15:24:00.000-04:00

This Sat., Nov 1st is the reschedule date for our Promise Village Project. We will be meeting at Promise Village 11511 Terrace Rd, Holly MI, at 10 am. Please be sure to wear gloves and boots, bring any weed whackers, chainsaws, pruners, clippers - any outside tools you may have. Be sure to mark anything you bring with your name.

Thanks for your flexibility with the rescheduling of this event -
We hope to see you there!

Thanksgiving Baskets

2008-10-25T13:46:00.000-04:00

We are accepting names for the upcoming Thanksgiving Basket distribution on Wed., Nov 26th.
The purpose of these baskets are to help anyone who may be struggling financially, and provide all the ingredients they need to prepare a Thanksgiving Dinner. With the upcoming holidays, which are an added stress financially and hard economics times, we want to help as many as we can. Do you know of anyone who could benefit from receiving a basket? Please know all information is kept strictly confidential.

If you could benefit from a basket, or if you know of someone who could use one. Please contact any LIVE 3rd leader or email: live3rd@gmail.com

PLEASE READ - LIVE3rd P.V. Project Postponed

2008-10-24T18:44:00.000-04:00

URGENT, URGENT, URGENT just to let everyone know the LIVE3rd Promise Village Project scheduled for tomorrow Saturday, Oct. 25th has been canceled due to rain. The project has been push back one week. The new date is Nov. 1st (next Saturday) same time 10 am. Please let us know as soon as you get this Live3rd@gmail.com

Thanks

Live3rd Team

Upcoming October Project

2008-10-16T20:25:00.001-04:00

Due to the storms that rolled through during the summer, all of the horse trails that the boys use throughout the summer have fallen trees on them. Therefore we need as MANY CHAINSAWS & WEED-WHACKERS that we can get our hands on for this event.

The boys were not able to ride the horses all summer due to the fallen trees & over-growth that is consuming their trails.

As well we could use rakes, shovels, clippers, hedgers, tree saws, etc. Please be sure to mark them clearly with your name.

Seneca Street

2008-10-16T20:14:00.001-04:00

September 27th, we worked on Seneca Street in Pontiac. Seneca Street is part of Grace Centers of Hope, it is part of their approach to ending and preventing homelessness by weaving together supportive services, safe and affordable housing, and neighborhood revitalization efforts. Click here for more info on Seneca Street
Thank you to all the volunteers who generously gave of their time.