WINNSBORO'S COMMUNITY SERVICE DAY
by
Maryann Miller

Gather a lot of people together for clean-up and repair projects and suddenly the work goes down a whole lot easier. That's what volunteers in Winnsboro discovered on Saturday, June 23 as about 90 folks participated in the first Winnsboro Service Days.

There were a number of projects on a list, including a new paint job for the home of Johnnie Rhoten (right). "Oh, what a blessing this is," she said. "What a blessing."

Johnnie's niece, Mickey Stewart (below, left) is a member of First United Methodist Church where the idea for the service day first took root back in February. Pastor Allen Sneider invited area church and civic leaders to a meeting to discuss the possibility of Winnsboro having a service day patterned after Great Days of Service in Sherman, Texas where Snider was a pastor previous to his assignment in Winnsboro. Details about that meeting HERE

When the idea became a vision and then a plan, a call went out for people to apply for home repairs and clean-up. "I filled out the paperwork," Mickey said. "And they picked this house for one of the projects.We were just so thrilled to be chosen. "

Mike Monk, a Winnsboro custom home builder, and Ronny Knight, Winnsboro's City Manager, looked like they were having a lot of fun as they cut siding to repair sections of walls to be painted. "Oh, yeah," Mike said. "Ronny's having such a good time he's going to quit his job as City Manager and go into construction."

Having fun working together and joking is part of what makes this type of volunteer effort so rewarding. That and knowing you are helping people. "This has been very successful," Ronny said. "I am so impressed with what everyone has been able to do, and I think what we have accomplished is excellent. We are getting a lot done for our first time to do this."

Other folks who helped at Ms. Rhoten's home were Greg & Shavon Duffey. Greg is one of the pastors at Hynson CME Chapel in Winnsboro, and is also involved with HYPE, a Winnsboro organization that helps kids stay on the right path. Volunteering for the Service Day is just one more way to help the community.

Pastor Sneider said about 90 volunteers made the day a huge success. That included folks who helped prepare and serve breakfast at 6AM and lunch around noon. In addition to work on Ms. Rhoten's home, there were several other clean up projects around town that included painting, plumbing repair, and yard clean up. "We're real pleased with the support from the community," Pastor Sneider said. "And we hope that this is just the first of many service days for the city."

Some of the other volunteers, (L - R) Bud Mclain, Tammy Mclain, Linda Hollowell, Ann Morrow, and Brenda Carroll, were from different churches and civic organizations. "But we are all here just to help," Tammy said. "It is such a good feeling to be part of this and know we are helping someone.

"Plus it's been a lot of fun."

Who says work has to be drudgery?