NORWICH – The Broad St. United Methodist Church will kick-off its 5th annual “Church Has Left the Building” at 9 a.m. Saturday in East Park with a brief outdoor worship service and everyone is invited to attend. Following the short service, the community is encouraged to join members of the congregation in performing an assortment of general public projects transcending denominations.
The UMC is organizing eight separate enterprises Saturday, including work on the Hale Street Community Garden; sewing dresses for Haiti at the Sew Nice in the North Plaza; a choir concert at a nursing home or two; sending cards to shut-ins organized at the Fellowship Hall; working projects at The Place in Norwich; organizing a collection site for First Aid kits outside of the Right Aid on Main Street; and – in cooperation with the county public health department – doing small house projects for seniors and baking for the Norwich community meal at St. Bart’s.
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chenango County has given the church a 20’ by 20’ foot plot to garden while produce from the botanical endeavor will be donated to the local food bank. This will be the first year UMC has organized a community garden and there will be a continuous need for volunteers to tend to it throughout the season. At the same time, there are a few exceptional gardeners already in the congregation who will now have a chance to show off their skills.
The sewing for Haiti project is something which UMC has been doing for some time now. Organizers work to fashion sundresses which are in turn shipped off to Haiti where many young girls have been reduced to wearing rags. Interestingly enough, the sundress have been known to actually protect the little Haitian girls because they present the image that they are being cared for. Subsequently, the sundresses have worked as a deterrent to those who would take advantage of a little girl in rags, someone they may think no would miss or care about.
The choir concerts will take place at the Chenango Memorial Hospital and the Norwich Rehabilitation Center, where the elderly have been known to sing along and truly appreciate the efforts of the choir.
Sending cards to shut-ins has, in the past, served as a kind remember to people who have lost touch with the community that they are still being thought of.
