On June 6, 2015 lightshine held a service day with about 25 adults and 15 student volunteers who cleaned up the school’s garden boxes, replanted some plants in front of the school, repainted rusty and weathered basketball backboards, created problemsolving equipment for the playground and painted a mural. Click here to read our featured story in the Thousand Oaks Acorn newspaper!
Background Info:
On November 8th, 2014 a team from lightshine church met up to continue our partnership with Walnut Elementary. This occasion of service was in conjunction
with the "I Heart Ventura County" initiative, a community event sponsored by "Life Without Limbs" in partnership with local churches, community service organizations, schools and government officials. The goal of IHVC is to facilitate positive change through days of volunteer service and dynamic community events. It was a great day. The team says it wasn't toooo hot but just right! They got everything accomplished with enthusiasm. Howard (in the red shirt) was on borrowed time just returning from Switzerland. He was the stripe-painting guru and painted walls. Sid (in the blue shirt) taped. The 'paws’ in the background were meticulously renewed by the detail crew - Katie and Julie. Super job! Rob, Steve and Ricky took on the walls. This was tedious work and a job well done. Ricky reports that his back was hurting.. from carrying Rob the whole time! Either way, it was another example of shining God's light in our community. Click here to see more photos.
with the "I Heart Ventura County" initiative, a community event sponsored by "Life Without Limbs" in partnership with local churches, community service organizations, schools and government officials. The goal of IHVC is to facilitate positive change through days of volunteer service and dynamic community events. It was a great day. The team says it wasn't toooo hot but just right! They got everything accomplished with enthusiasm. Howard (in the red shirt) was on borrowed time just returning from Switzerland. He was the stripe-painting guru and painted walls. Sid (in the blue shirt) taped. The 'paws’ in the background were meticulously renewed by the detail crew - Katie and Julie. Super job! Rob, Steve and Ricky took on the walls. This was tedious work and a job well done. Ricky reports that his back was hurting.. from carrying Rob the whole time! Either way, it was another example of shining God's light in our community. Click here to see more photos.
Mission is a major part of what LightShine is all about. We chose Walnut Elementary as our central mission because Walnut is a Title One school and has the highest number of students on free and reduced lunch in the Newbury Park cluster of the CVUSD (there are already tutoring programs offered to the communities of Thousand Oaks and Westlake cluster schools).
Our Missional Project with Walnut Elementary in Newbury Park went very well last year and both the school and our church are looking forward to another great year of partnership. Our major presence will continue through our after school tutoring program led by Kathy Benioff. We will be awaiting Principal Amy Hastings’ decision on how the program will be structured this year. Certain grades need more help than others, so she and the teachers will be tailoring it to the needs of the current student population.
We served lunch to the staff last year and the staff was highly appreciative and we anticipate we will be doing something similar this year. We had a very successful Action Serve Day on June 7, 2014 where we put in flower garden, repainted a faded map of the USA on the playground, and refinished the surface of the loft in the childcare center. We will be inquiring about other projects the staff would like to have us do next year.
How can you be a part of this mission? There are several ways:
- Volunteer as an after school tutor (it is a lot of fun and not as hard as you think – you don’t need to be Einstein to tutor at this level).
- Volunteer for a work project as they present themselves.
- Donate BoxTops or Labels for Education. There is a box at the Needs Table in which to place these. You can search the web to see which products carry these fundraising labels (just type in Box Tops or Labels for Education in your search browser). There are handouts at the Needs table that explains it as well. Companies donate money to schools based on the number of these labels that are turned in – it can add up to a lot when many people are involved.
- Donate supplies for teachers. Greatest needs are facial tissue and 8 ½ x 11 copy paper. Other school supplies are always welcome: white board markers, pencils, crayons, colored pencils, etc.
- Pray for our continued growth in the Walnut community – we know there is more we can do. We are counting on God to lead us in the directions where needs and can be met and enhancements can be made.
- Contact Eric Lindroth or Rob if you are interested in helping in anyway.
Written by Eric Lindroth, Leadership Team Member
Great update! It was an amazing day!
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