Guest post by Clint Seefeldt, Serve More Event Chair
Our Serve More team had the opportunity to contribute to the Convoy of Hope event on June 25th. Taken from their website: “As a faith-based, nonprofit organization Convoy of Hope has helped more than 70 million people throughout the world by sharing food, water, emergency supplies, agricultural know-how, and opportunities that empower people to live independent lives, free from poverty, disease and hunger.” They are actually a multi-year recipient of the prestigious Four Star Charity Award from Charity Navigator! One of our fellow Serve More Board Members, Tom Flanagan, played a huge role in this fantastic event.
We arrived at the Indiana State Fairgrounds on Saturday morning after a big volunteer rally the night before. At 6 am, we joined a massive crowd of volunteers from all walks of life. Once we were given stations and assignments, we were ready to begin! In the morning, I had the pleasure of bagging groceries. In the afternoon, I helped carry groceries to the “guest of honors’s” cars/transportation.
The numbers below reflect the impact volunteers made in just one day!
· 3,348 volunteers
· 10,239 honored guests
· 200 church groups
· 300 business groups
· 75,000 pounds of groceries
· 400 haircuts
· 544 job interviews
· 3,242 pairs of children’s shoes
· 2,190 women’s shoes
· 14,000 McDonald’s meals
The above picture only shows about 1/64th of the area of the whole event. I know I left the event with a newfound passion for life and how blessed I am to have the things/opportunities I have. There isn’t anything in the world that can humble you like the experience of serving those less fortunate: I truly understood how thankful they were and how much they needed my help. Tom Flanagan deserves all of the recognition for this event and he continues to be someone I will always look up to and admire for his service to our community!
Serve More opportunities occur every other month. Next month join us on September 17th for Serve More Saturday! We have not one, but two events to choose from: Indy Vet Rally and Putt from the Ruff (more info on both events coming soon!).
