We kicked off our rainy Tuesday today by serving at LifeCare Alliance in Columbus, OH. This non-profit organization focuses as serving the elderly in the greater Columbus area by delivering food with Meals on Wheels, an on-site cafe, food pantry, and varied medical assistance. This is a big operation that sends out 5,000 meals every day! It was such a great experience for our students to minister to the elderly and be an example for Christ to the workers and fellow volunteers. A few of our students went with Pastor Derek to deliver meals to people in their homes around Columbus. The other students worked with Lora back at the main building organizing food supplies, serving food at the cafe, preparing food, and folding silverware. The students worked hard and had such a positive and fun attitude all day. One of the people who help run LifeCare made a point to come up to Pastor Derek to say that she was VERY impressed with our students in how hard they worked and just how they acted while they were there. She went on to tell how that is often not the case with other groups who come to serve. We are so proud of our students!

After lunch we went to Franklinton Farms which is a network of urban gardens in the middle of the city of Columbus. These types of gardens help residents have access to fresh fruits and vegetables in parts of the inter city where access to these things are slim due to it being a “food desert” (food desert is a term for places in cities where there are no grocery stores or access to fresh foods). Our group had a tour of the farms, and then we helped pull woods in different green houses. It was a neat experience to work on a “farm” while surrounded by an urban environment. One of the gardens was built in what used to be a parking lot by taking a jackhammer to concrete to get to the earth below.

In the evening we went to Easton Mall for the students to get dinner and have some fun time out. Afterwards we ended our day as we always do on MRT’s with group time where we shared stories from the day, and God moments. Then the students had quiet time to journal about their day and experiences.

Here are some other pictures from today: