Summertime here at Outreach not only means that our Garden of Hope is in full bloom, but we see a lot of youth volunteering their time to help their neighbors. Thanks to Polk County Community Foundation and their Student Intern Grant, we have two student interns who manage the garden and work on our annual School Supply Distribution. We have a group of children from the Congregational Church of Tryon helping with the Feed-a-Kid program, and yet another group of kids with Project Challenge who help out in the pantry.

Poet Laura Grace Wheldon says, “When families reach out to help others, their children learn that this is a natural response. After all, the word “humane” is a variant of the word “human.” The definition of “humane” includes demonstrating better aspects of the human character such as kindness and compassion and showing respect for other people’s views. The word used to define us also describes the qualities essential to forging a society based on mutual regard.”

Although we don’t seem to see enough kindness, compassion, and respect in the media today, we do see it here at Outreach. It is modeled and lived not only by our volunteers, but also by our donors, partner agencies, churches and clients. This example is not lost on our kids. They are watching and they are responding!

You may see some of our community’s service-minded youth at the following events in August.  On Friday, August 4, The Columbus United Methodist Church is hosting their annual Peach Festival from 4:30-7 p.m. On Saturday, August 5, we are having our annual School Supply Distribution and Community Resource Fair at Polk County Middle School from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. On Friday, August 11, we are hosting a community, potluck style Harvest Dinner at the Harmon Field Log Cabin from 5:30-7: p.m.

For more information or if you would like to learn more about our mission and programs, please visit us online at www.tboutreach.org.