ANDOVER — Two hundred volunteers from South Church fanned out across Andover and the surrounding communities Saturday to mark the parish's ninth annual Day of Service.
Fourteen teams contributed more than 650 hours of service on projects ranging from cooking meals, collecting and sorting bicycles, raking leaves and building houses.
And, children transformed pumpkins into Thanksgiving centerpieces for senior citizens at Ashland Farms and Edgewood assisted-living communities in North Andover, according to Jennifer Bouchard, in a statement.
Kicking off the event, volunteers assisted Bikes Not Bombs, a nonprofit that trains urban youth to assist with repairing and recycling more than 3,000 bicycles a year, in collecting 124 used bicycles. Some of the bikes are sold in the organization's Jamaica Plain shop, but 80 percent are shipped to economic development projects in Africa, Central America or the Caribbean. Volunteers also raised more than $600 for the cause.
In Lawrence, another group of volunteers worked alongside engineering students from Olin College in Needham, to help Habitat for Humanity rebuild three houses that were destroyed by fire in January.
The Sabre Foundation of Lawrence, a nonprofit that provides textbooks to developing countries received much-needed assistance from volunteers who sorted and packed books in boxes.
Other church members put on their chef aprons to prepare meals at CorUnum Meal Center and Esperanza Academy, both in Lawrence.
In Andover, they serenaded residents at the Wingate and Marland Place nursing homes with old standards, show tunes and patriotic favorites.
Still others spent time outdoors raking leaves for seniors, clearing abandoned AVIS trials, and delivering food donations to Neighbors in Need, Lazarus House and Bread & Roses.
For information on South Church Day of Service, visit www.southchurch.com/2008DOS.htm. For information on the church, visit www.southchurch.com
