Last week you met Bernadette Hughes and the Hughes family, the Donor Dreammaker Award winners who will be celebrated at the Transforming Lives Gala on September 20th. This week we want you to meet our Volunteer Dreammaker award winners— Advent United Methodist Church, in Eagan.
Advent has partnered with Living Well for over 10 years and they have been involved in many ways throughout the years. Initially focused on volunteering at our Diane Road home, as one of the parishioners has a daughter there, they have expanded their involvement over time.
A team of Advent members regularly volunteers to do indoor painting projects throughout the year, typically painting three to four of our 36 homes each year. Last year they stepped up and painted the entire inside of our West Emerson to get it ready to sell and then painted the entire inside of Star Lane to get it ready for people to move in! It was a huge job, and it saved a lot of time and money. Other Advent members make volunteer deliveries of freezer meals, mail, supplies, gifts, and plants to our homes, and do so on a regular basis, some even weekly.
Every year the church also has an Advent Cares Day, with one Saturday every summer dedicated to giving time to community organizations of parishioners chosing. They regularly support multiple Living Well locations doing a variety of projects including yardwork, indoor cleaning and painting, assembling freezer meals and activity kits during this special week.
In addition to the generous gift of time via volunteering, Advent’s congregation generously donates a significant portion of their annual giving to Living Well each year.
Living Well’s connection with Advent has opened the door to multiple examples of community partnerships at their best, including creating relationships with many dedicated members like Jack and Deborah Trainer and Cal and Kris Robertson. These four volunteers alone have given hundreds of hours of service while advocating for the wellbeing of people Living Well supports through their on-going friendship.
Volunteer Program Manager, Kathy Anderson, says, “Partnering with Advent is so fun! Their many volunteers are an integral part of supporting Living Well’s daily services. Including delivering meals and supplies to homes every week, delivering gifts during the holidays, and completing multiple painting and yardwork projects every year. I consider Jack, Deb, Cal and Kris friends, and am continuously grateful for their kindness and generosity. When we need something, we ask, and they usually show up for us!” Jack and Deb even built the STARS board that will display the hand painted star ornaments that our STARS Self Advocacy group will be selling at the Gala. In less than a week it went from concept, to a call to Jack, to a fully functional display board ready for the Gala. Of course, he even delivered it!
When people and community open their hearts and dedicate time to organizations like Living Well, magic is sure to happen. We couldn’t do what we do so well without the consistent dedication of our volunteers. They are essential when it comes to bridging the gap between home and community, and we are forever grateful.
We look forward to celebrating Advent United Methodist Church on September 20, 2024, at our Transforming Lives Gala. For more information, click here.
(The Volunteer Dreammaker award honors a Living Well Disability Services volunteer—individual or group—who has made an outstanding contribution or demonstrated exemplary leadership, creativity, cooperation and hard work that transformed the lives of people we support.)