Volunteers from six different churches brightened lives this weekend working in gardens, preparing meals and doing service projects around town.
The annual Love Out Loud event was expected to draw several hundred volunteers, said Marcia Heidenreich, a volunteer with First United Methodist.
“We call it worshiping with our hearts and our hands,” she said.
The event started at First United Methodist Church and it gradually expanded over the past six years to include more churches, she said.
“We approach lots of different nonprofit groups and agencies and schools to see if they could use our help,” she said.
Volunteers also spend time helping individuals who might need home repairs or yard work done.
Saturday, volunteers painted the fence at Four Corners Health Care Center. They also mulched trees and worked on landscaping at Needham Elementary School and prepared meals at Christ the King Lutheran Church for the elderly and others.
Beth Stelz was among those helping prepare chicken noodle soup at the Lutheran church.
“It makes you realize how many people are in need all around you,” she said, of volunteering.
Volunteers planned to gather Sunday at First United Methodist Church to prepare baskets of gratitude for the staff at area nursing homes, write thank you letters to military service members and firefighters, and weave sleeping mats for the homeless out of plastic bags, among other activities. There were 61 volunteer opportunities planned for the weekend.
A variety of service projects are planned during Love Out Love to involve people of all ages and skill sets.
“We try really hard to find a spot for every single person,” she said.
Volunteers from Christ the King Lutheran Church, Faith Community Church of the Nazarene, First United Methodist Church, The River Church, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango and Durango Friends Meeting participated, Stelz said.
However, volunteers don’t have to be affiliated with a church to participate, she said.
mshinn@durangoherald.com
