By Chay Masagca
EBC Washington DC Bureau
WALDORF, Maryland (Eagle News) — Bundled up against the winter breeze, members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) walked through the Gillespies Mobile Court community, gently knocked on each door and handed out bags filled with toiletries and canned goods to the residents of this small Maryland neighborhood.
Lydia Vital, a 76 year-old member the church, was among the volunteers who undermined the freezing cold to support this effort.
“Through this I get to know more people, gain new friends and I am able to help my fellow men,” Vital said.
This was not Vital’s first time at an event like this. For years, she has been joining similar activities organized by the church.
This effort was part of the Aid to Humanity project of the Church in partnership with the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation that aims to create a positive impact on the community. One way they try to accomplish this is by giving relief goods to those who might be experiencing difficult times.
Beaming residents opened their doors to the volunteers and received the gifts, literally with open arms.
Twenty-two-year-old Carla Caldron, a resident of the mobile court community and who works as a receptionist in a hotel had only good things to say about the efforts of the Church.
“It is nice that the church is reaching out,” Caldron said. “They should be doing what they are doing because it is a nice gesture.”
Gillespies Mobile Court is located in the heart of the city and rents lots where Recreational Vehicles or RVs stand and serve as homes to about forty families, most of whom work in construction.
Clueless of the gifts they would receive from total strangers, the residents were visibly happy and thankful for the outreach activity which could possibly have been the highlight of their otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon.
Community members not only gave the volunteers a warm welcome into their neighborhood but also assured the members of the Waldorf congregation that they would attend future activities of the Church.
The activity was led by Waldorf’s resident minister, Brother Rocky Leviste.
He explained that the church regularly holds activities of reaching out to the community in keeping with the biblical teaching “to do good to those who need it.”
(Eagle News Service)
