people serving and eating hot dogs
Volunteers from Mount Vernon's Nazarene churches participated in the Big Serve event by providing a meal for the Riverside Park neighborhood. Credit: Submitted

MOUNT VERNON — Volunteers from the four Nazarene Churches in Mount Vernon joined together for Big Serve on April 26 and May 17.

Big Serve is a Church of the Nazarene community service event with churches participating across Ohio.

Because Mount Vernon has a unique number of Nazarene churches, the four churches – First Naz, Lakeholm, New Life, and Shepherd’s House — joined together for this special combined service opportunity.

Groups served with Place 4 Grace, New Hope Education Center, Community Roots, and Foster Ministry House to assist with various maintenance and landscaping projects.

Many area schools, including Twin Oak Elementary, Dan Emmett Elementary, Wiggin Street Elementary, and Pleasant Street Elementary, also benefited. Volunteers cleaned, organized, painted, and undertook various playground and landscaping projects.

Volunteers also helped with light maintenance, landscaping, and trash pickup at Wolf Run and Memorial parks. An additional group sang with residents at Brookdale and Living Center senior adult facilities.

Many also wrote appreciation cards for teachers, nursing home staff, and first responders, and helped prepare freezer meals for the fire department. Groups also assisted several individuals in our community with home maintenance-type projects.

Each day of serving included a free meal—one for Shalimar Apartments residents and the other for the Riverside Park neighborhood.

Find the Mount Vernon Nazarene churches and more photos and videos on social media using #bigserve.