Finishing what they start: Church project builds help and hope

Volunteers Carole Wylie and David Keyser unload a truck packed with supplies. Sentinel photo/Regina EllingBy Regina Elling

First Congregational Church of Ramona is putting its workforce behind its fundraising. The congregation may be small, but its members not only raised money to help with some major community projects—they are spending their weekends physically seeing those projects to completion.

Saturday morning found several church members hard at work on their first Helping Hands: A Community Outreach Project.

“This is a new venture for us,” said Joanne Glaudini, church administrator, and known as “church everything” among the group of people gathered to provide some much-needed manual labor. “We’ve raised funds to help out the needy, elderly, servicemen and women, and others that are struggling and need help with roofing their home, working on water, etc.”

The current project—which members estimated would take most of the day, if not

more—involved installing some required skirting around a mobile home for an elderly couple living on a fixed income.

Doing the work meant removing a lot of rotten boards and repairing some improper drainage at the home.

“Our church normally raises funds each year to build two homes for the needy in Mexico,” said Carole Wylie, also a church member. “This year, with so many people in Ramona struggling, we decided to just build one home in Mexico and use the remainder of the funds to help local families, at least for awhile.”

As the work progressed, Wylie said others in the community needing similar help are encouraged to call the church.

“We’re specifically looking for people who are doing their best to help themselves, and just need a little extra,” she said.

For information about the Helping Hands Project, contact the First Congregational Church of Ramona at 760-789-3348.