Local Churches Roll Up Sleeves

Thanksgiving is still a month away, but quite a few local churches are already in the spirit of giving. The 5th Annual ShareFest weekend wrapped up Sunday evening, all weekend long crews have been busy helping out the community. Sunday evening, many of the churches participated in a coat and food drive at Barton Coliseum. The coats collected are to be distributed by the Salvation Army and the food by "Here`s Life Inner City," an alliance of over 50 inner city churches. Sunday morning, and last Thursday, churches sponsored blood drives, collecting several hundred units of blood--but bringing their 5-year total to over 4,000 units. Saturday, teams rolled up their sleeves, not to give blood but for a little hard work. Volunteers did some landscaping, painting and maintenance repairs for at least four local public schools. At Southwest Middles School alone, workers put in over $55,000 in labor and materials. "We`re called to do so in the Scripture. We`re called to do good work and good deeds to show the love of Christ," said Dana Tull, a ShareFest volunteer. "The big idea of ShareFest is the churches coming together to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ to the community," said Ray Williams of the Nehemiah Group, a sponsor of ShareFest. ShareFest topped off with a worship celebration at Barton Coliseum, where they were expected to collect a love offering close to $150,000 to give to several non-profits, like the Hope Center or the Little Rock Compassion Center.