Dear Bay Shore,
It’s me Marissa again! I hope you all had a great week and hopefully you got outside to enjoy this gorgeous weather. As most of you know, Pastor Sarah is on vacation this week and because of this, my schedule looked a bit different. Instead of sitting in the office all day working on the computer, I was given the opportunity to help at Hephatha church for the day on Tuesday.
First, I was able to help with the Veterans food pantry which was so wonderful. I was able to help distribute food between boxes and carry boxes out to people’s cars who could not lift them for themselves. It was incredible to see the generosity of organizations in the city that helped to provide immense amounts of food for people that are in need. I was also able to briefly meet a group of high schoolers that pick up one of the food deliveries every week and bring it over to Hephatha. They were all eager to help, carrying in boxes upon boxes of food, which was extra impressive at 9am. It’s always so exciting to see youth getting involved in helping others in their communities.
The second part of my day was spent working at a phone bank with COLE, which is the Coalition on Lead Emergency. Hephatha will be hosting a town hall meeting this Saturday (October 12th) at 11:30am discussing the overwhelming childhood lead poisoning rates in Milwaukee. Earlier this week, President Biden visited Milwaukee to discuss the horrific problem that lead pipes and service lines are causing in our communities and nationwide. He has set a 10-year deadline to remove all lead pipes and service lines throughout the United States. But this is a problem that is affecting people right here and right now. That is why this town hall is so important, it will give people in the community a chance to speak with elected officials and find out what their plans actually are to help stop and reverse the damage that lead is causing. I got the chance to make phone calls and let people know about the town hall meeting and lead testing that will be provided at the event. Although making phone calls seems like a silly little task, I loved getting to interact with new people and getting to make a real difference in my community.
Lastly, I got to help with the children’s praise time which is held every Tuesday at Hephatha. I couldn’t stay the whole time but even the thirty minutes that I got to spend with those children and their families was so special. We celebrated birthdays with a huge cake, read a bible story, and just talked about how school and life were going. I really appreciated the time spent with these children who didn’t know me at all but welcomed me to sit with them and wanted to know things about me like my favorite bible story.
Overall, I had a wonderful time getting to know the people at Hephatha and got to spend some time with Pastor Mary Martha, which was a delight. Don’t forget, families of middle schoolers! We are having a pizza and game night this coming Sunday the 13th from 5pm to 7pm. I can’t wait to lose at Mario Kart and have lots of fun! I hope you are all having a great week, and I hope to see you at worship on Sunday!
God’s peace and love to you,
Marissa Knopick