MARLBORO TWP. – A church wants to bring businesses, organizations and members of the Marlington communities together through home restoration this summer.
Marlboro Christian Church is seeking students entering grades seven through 12 and adults with home rehabilitation experience to participate in Mission Marlington – a program that involves completing outdoor home improvement projects for residents in need.
“The vision is for skilled laborers to come together with students, with middle school and high school students, and teach them skills that will impact the community through restoration,” said Rev. Ed Carter of Marlboro Christian Church. “We will do simple projects that are outside.”
These projects could include painting, landscaping, building wheelchair ramps and working on porches. Carter said the goal is to complete four or five projects from July 6-9.
Students from any school district are invited to participate in the program. Work days will begin at 9 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. Lunch will be provided at the worksite. Afterward, participants will be fed dinner and have the opportunity to partake in non-work evening activities.
They will also take a trip to Cedar Point on July 11.
The cost for participation is $75 per student. This covers lunches and dinners and the Cedar Point trip.
Carter said Mission Marlington was inspired by a similar program led by a church in Wellsville.
“We go to different places on mission trips, we take our kids to different places on mission trips pretty far away,” he said. “We do a lot of this type of work there. But if you look at it locally you see there’s still kind of a pretty big need for it here, too.”
He wanted the program to be a collaboration between Marlboro Christian Church and other places of worship in the area. Several churches already work together on a weekly basis to pack bags of food for elementary students in the district to take home on the weekends.
“We want people to understand that we come together, we love our community,” Carter said.
Rev. Gary Bush of Grace Community Church of Alliance said Mission Marlington is a tremendous program that will bring together various groups in the community.
“I think it’s a wonderful way for churches in the community to pull together and work and serve the individuals in the community, especially those that are experiencing difficulties. (It’s) a way that we can connect and help them with projects at their homes,” Bush said.
Carter hopes to keep the project going for years to come.
He said Mission Marlington will conduct background checks on any adults who wish to participate. Applicants who want to be considered for home projects must own their homes, not rent them.
Applications must be submitted by June 13.
For more information, visit Mission Marlington’s website or call 330-935-2161.
Reach Paige at 330-580-8577 or [email protected], or on Twitter at @paigembenn.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marlboro church looks to connect Marlington community through service
