As you have seen in the past few bulletins and on our website, this past week was a spectacular success for our Vacation Bible School. Not only did the largest set of children and volunteers have a wonderful 5 days of singing, dancing, playing games, making crafts, and listening to some powerful Bible stories, they were able to directly contribute to the humanitarian relief efforts in Nepal by making blankets, scarves, and first aid kits that are being shipped to the disaster area now.
An effort like this can only be accomplished with the tremendous dedication and sacrifice of dozens of volunteers, numbering well over 100 this year. There are a few extra groups and individuals that should also be thanked, most of which worked behind the scenes preparing and executing key tasks. I want to thank the Young Adults and Youth Group members that, even if they were not participating in VBS, still came and helped build the sets and put together the prayer flags that adorned our Ballroom ceiling. There were several other parishioners (you know who you are) that came a few weeks early to paint mountains, cut out rocks from styrofoam and build a cardboard house as our Base Camp. Others came and helped organize the crafts and set up the stage area the weekend before. I want to especially thank the Knights of Columbus, who at the last minute rallied to serve the families for their pizza night, including scooping ice cream. Our whole community worked together, from donations of first aid supplies to safely shepherding our children through their climb up Mount Everest. Thank you all!