September 2012 - First Presbyterian Church, Georgetown, Texas

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12 F I R S T W O R D Spotlight on. . . “ The church and our members support many mission projects to help strangers overseas, and in the U.S. at the General Assembly, Presbytery and Synod levels. However, before Friends in Deed started, we didn’t have a church ‘vehicle’ for a mission ministry effort to help our own members here at home. “ —Mike Carson Friends in Deed Bob Jones & Mike Carson Volunteers lend a hand in members’ homes WHEN IT COMES TO MINOR HOME REPAIRS and maintenance, people sometimes need a helping hand because they lack the physical ability or skill. Climbing a ladder to change a light bulb might not sound challenging to some, but for a senior citizen or a person suffering from vertigo, it could become a daunting task. And then there’s the cost of calling a service person to perform a simple household job—fixing a leaky faucet, cleaning out gutters, changing an air conditioner filter, or replacing batteries in a smoke detector. FPC’s “Friends in Deed” ministry, begun by the Mission Committee late last year, has come to the aid of several church members requesting help around their homes. A group of willing, dedicated volunteers, or “Friends,” makes the program work. Mike Carson and Bob Jones, unofficial coordinators of the ministry, recently talked about their experiences with Friends. Mike retired more than a year ago with a construction company specializing in underground utility contracting, and Bob is a retired Marine. They worked with the Mission Committee to get things started. Seed money for supplies and other items to make repairs was provided in this year’s budget. “We tell people who receive our services what the materials cost, and if they wish to reimburse the church, they can. But since the ministry has a budget, it’s not necessary or required,” Mike said. “Our volunteer labor is donated so there isn’t a charge for it.” In some cases, Friends volunteers confirm that work recommended by a service company or contractor is needed and what that work might cost. Bob said, “We have the volunteers and capability to handle more requests for work than we’ve been receiving.” Other volunteers who have participated include Jerry Fine, Bill Stump, Ray and Karen Rayburn, Harry Wiesner and Lou Brown. “We’ve all been called to this ministry,” said Mike, who describes himself as a life-long “avocational” carpenter. “We are trying our hardest to make it work. But we can’t do what we love to do, and what gives us joy, unless we have recipients of our services to share in this ministry with us. I know there are other church members out there who need this kind of help. I don’t think we have begun to plumb the depth of this need.” Over the years, church volunteers have done enough odd jobs in members’ homes to know the need exists for Friends in
Deed. Pastor Roberts and the Mission Committee agreed when the idea was presented. Mike said he also hears feedback from recipients of services who tell him how much they saved by using the services of Friends. “Having a handyman come to your home to change several light bulbs can cost more than a hundred dollars,” he said. The two Friends in Deed volunteers are also “Friday guys” at FPC—church members who perform a variety of both routine and emergency repairs and maintenance jobs around the church facility each Friday. In a facility of more than 50,000 square feet, there’s always something needing repair or maintenance. Having a knowledgeable church volunteer do these jobs saves the church money by not having to call a local plumber, electrician or other contractor. Mike and Bob also have volunteered with local charitable and nonprofit organizations, not to mention disaster relief efforts in Louisiana and Missouri. Last spring the two built an outdoor bicycle shed for The Caring Place and replaced the floor in a room there. Through The Caring Place, they did demolition and other work on the Madella Hilliard Neighborhood renovation and expansion. Also through The Caring Place’s client services program, the two men have done work in clients’ homes. Friends perform a variety of jobs Howard and Eleanor Bond, who celebrated their 71 st wedding anniversary in August, are thankful for the work done in their home. The jobs required climbing a ladder, and Howard said, “I’m not supposed to get up that high.” He called Cindee Molenda in the church office, and his request was relayed to Mike and Bob, who volunteered to lend a hand over a couple of days. They replaced a socket in a kitchen light fixture and installed a new light fixture in a bathroom. Outside the house, the long nails that held the gutters to the eaves were coming loose, so Mike and Bob replaced those nails with bolts. “They also cleaned out all the gutters for the whole house,” Howard said. “And that was a lot of linear feet of gutters. We thanked them profusely for what they did.” Howard is being repaid for similar work he did years ago as part of a program started by the Men’s Christian Fellowship, which recruited volunteers to perform minor repairs and maintenance in members’ homes. Jennie Mann, whose husband passed away last November, called the church when she couldn’t clean a window full of insect spray that had dripped onto the glass inside the window screen. Ray and Karen Rayburn went to her house and attacked the problem, taking off the screen and cleaning the window inside and out. “He left me his card and told me to call if I had anything else I needed to have done,” Jennie said. Jane Belford and daughter Bonnie have sought help from Friends in Deed twice. Both women are “challenged” heightwise. With cathedral ceilings in their home, changing light bulbs is a problem. “Bill Stump came over and changed bulbs in the laundry room, a bathroom and outside the back patio doors,” Jane said. He also unstopped a couple of sinks. Jane’s husband, a retired <strong>Presbyterian</strong> minister, passed away in 2010. On another occasion, when Jane was gone, Bonnie needed help storing some 15 boxes of Christmas decorations in the attic, so Bob went to her rescue. Tim Smith, a neighbor and FPC member, had also helped with the boxes in the past. Other examples of jobs performed by Friends in Deed are: • Putting in a new support or pillar for a member’s carport • Confirming what a member had been told about the need for insulation in her attic • Building a wheelchair-accessible ramp to enter a home • Helping a member take clothes down from closets with a high bar so she could discard some after moving to a small apartment • Adjusting the heads on a sprinkler system • Grouting cracks in the sidewalk at the home of a member who uses a walker —Marty Curtis F I R S T W O R D 13 If you need help with a minor home repair or maintenance job, call the church office at 863-3381. Your request will be referred to Friends in Deed.
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September 2012 - First Presbyterian Church, Georgetown, Texas

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