Unexpected Impact

By Emily Faison

Every year, students in youth groups, kids, parents, pastors, and convention-goers come together the Saturday before the national convention to make a profound impact on the community. Over the years, participants have filled food boxes, staffed church carnivals and picnics, distributed tracts, and cleaned churches. This year, 60 participants volunteered at a Veterans Administration healthcare facility, while another 40 worked at the Arkansas Food Bank. “Every year, I am amazed at the amount of work these volunteers get done in a short amount of time,” said convention press officer Eric Thomsen. “It is a blessing to see multiple generations working together to reach out to the host city.”

This year, Master’s Men looked to Travis Alexander, pastor of First FWB Church in Mountain Home, Arkansas, and a veteran himself, to organize projects. Impact volunteers at the VA healthcare facility helped organize donated clothing for patients, while other volunteers freshened up three outdoor sitting areas. Volunteers repotted plants, planted flowers, laid mulch, and sanded and repainted picnic tables in the plazas. “Several facility residents and employees came by and praised the work they did,” volunteer coordinator Chris Luecke shared. Of all the places Impact has volunteered in various convention cities, it was particularly special to volunteer at a VA facility. “We made a lasting impact on a facility where we were able to serve those who have served us,” said Ken Akers.

Pastor Travis noted he and his church regularly volunteer at their local food bank in Mountain Home, Arkansas, so he asked the local food bank to put him in contact with a food bank in Little Rock. Though the Arkansas Food Bank in Little Rock typically only opens to volunteers on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, the organization happily made an exception for the Impact team, and planned a morning of sorting and packing potatoes for the volunteers. However, the weather had other plans. A heavy storm rolled in late Friday night and knocked out power to the entire neighborhood where the food bank is located. Squeezing a group of 50 volunteers into a steaming warehouse without electricity or air-flow was not an option. “So we’re going to improvise,” said Arkansas Food Bank volunteer coordinator Amber Bryant. “Because improvising is what we do at the Arkansas Food Bank.”

The team of would-be potato sorters easily transformed into a grounds crew, cleaning up storm debris from the windblown property. Though the atmosphere was hot and humid, volunteers of all ages energetically worked up a sweat, including 70-year-old Marsha Scallions of First FWB Church in Charleston, Arkansas. “I’m not quitting!” she exclaimed. “If you quit, you’re done!” The change in plans afforded our youngest volunteer the opportunity to join in. Just four years old, Miles Young would have been too young to work inside the warehouse, but he was excited to join the cleanup crew. “I’m just happy we’re outside,” said Miles.

At the end of the morning, team members gathered to pray over the food bank. “It wasn’t the impact you thought you were going to make,” Bryant told the volunteers. “But you still made an unexpected impact.”

About the Writer: Emily Faison edits and manages web content and social media for Brief Media. A member of the convention press team, Emily manages digital media for Bethany FWB Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.