By Kalvin Valdillez, Tulalip News
During the first week of August, members of the Marysville Grove Church brought their outreach work to the Tulalip community. Every summer the church spends five days in each of its surrounding communities, including Tulalip, Lake Stevens, Everett and Stanwood, providing beautification services to specific worksites within those communities.
Established in 2011, the volunteer-based outreach campaign is known as iheart. In previous years, iheart worked in various areas throughout the Tulalip reservation, revamping local buildings, ball fields, schools as well as the Boys and Girls Club. This year, volunteers dedicated all of their efforts to remodel one building.
“Our site this year is at the Legacy of Healing,” states iheart Site Leader, Moyia Rossnagle. “Our project for this building is to give it a face lift; fresh paint, fresh deck stain, fix up the lines in the parking lot, plant flowers and prune the landscaping to make it more welcoming and more inviting for the women and children who are in crisis when they come here.“
Hundreds of Grove Church members of all ages volunteer their time to the local mission trips each summer. Parents who volunteer in iheart are encouraged to bring along their children to participate as well. Kids of the church, between the fourth and eighth grade, volunteer to work at the Kid’s Block Party, held towards the end of each iheart week. This year, the Block Party took place at the Tulalip Boys and Girls Club.
On the hazy warm summer day of August 3, the youth of the community experienced a fun-filled day, enjoying the many activities at the Block Party including super-soaker races, bouncy houses, carnival games, manicures and face painting.
“My favorite is the bouncy houses and the water balloons. The water is so fun because it’s too hot. I like everything here, its so fun,” exclaimed Tulalip tribal member, Sylus Edwards.
In it’s sixth summer, the iheart project continues to unite communities through their outreach services.
“Everyone here is a volunteer and donates their time because they want to give back to the communities and they want to serve other people,” explains Moyia. “It feels good to do that and it’s been such a rewarding week. We’ve met some really neat people; we’ve gotten to know the women who work here and made some new friends, it’s just been such a great week.”
For further details about the Grove Church and their iheart outreach campaign, please visit their website www.Grove.Church
