Appalachia Service Project

July 20 through July 26, 2008
 

ASP,  It’s Our Eighteenth Year!

And we want to thank you for your continued support!! Appalachia Service Project has been a mission emphasis since 1989, when eight adult and four youth volunteers made the trip to the area representing this congregation for the first time.  Our effort would have petered-out long ago if it were not for the prayers, participation, work projects, financial contributions and material donations provided to us by the congregation here at the Church of the Good Shepherd.

COGS will again be sending work crews to Appalachia this summer in support of the ASP program.  Four work teams of youth and adult volunteers will spend the week of July 20^th working with local residents to provide fellowship and repairs that will result in warmer, drier and safer homes. 

The costs for our volunteers to participate in the ASP program are paid by budgeted funds, donations, fund raising efforts and participant contributions.  Fund raising sources have included the Cup Runneth Over Café, Dinner theater productions, various dinners, events and sales of every description.

As COGS-In-Motion begins to focus toward accomplishing this year’s goal of ASP participation, we will again be drawing on the volunteerism, the support, and the generosity of this congregation.  Our work teams will represent our congregation of believers by actively serving residents of Appalachia as they are, where they are.  We welcome your prayers, participation and support during our preparations and journey to and from Appalachia again this summer.

Handprints in Appalachia

Tom is a construction worker
He gets right to the job, and is not a shirker
His hands are thick and very callused
But his heart is full of kindness with no trace of malice.

Cindy is a college student
And in the library and classroom her time is spent
Her hands are soft and somewhat small
But her heart is tenacious and six feet tall.

Sam works in an office and is white collar
Part athlete and part scholar
His hands are untrained and unsure
But his heart is so eager and so pure.

Jill is a stay at home mom and a homemaker
She works around the clock and is a giver and not a taker
Her hands are disciplined and always busy
But her heart is open and never in a tizzy.

John is a retired salesman and is sixty
And he loves to be social and is quite nifty
His hands are aging and sometimes stiff
But his heart is still young and quite a gift.

Laura is in high school and a first timer
She is known for her talents and being a climber
Her hands are naive and quite timid
But her heart is so bold and has no limit.

Bob is involved in his church and is a reader
He is not a follower, but our ASP leader
His hands are so calm, and so steady
And his heart is joyous and ever ready.

Together this team of seven will become one
Their fourteen hands will work and pray in the rain and sun
Their hand prints will linger but soon disappear
But their heartprints will last forever, year after year.

a poem by a member of the team