Volunteers come from afar to lend helping hand

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Thirty-five Georgians are running around the county fixing things this week.

They hail from Southwest Christian Church in East Point, Ga., and have come to Ironton as volunteers.

"We're just here to help out," said Carin Hining, one of the adult volunteers. "Jesus talked about serving other people, and we just want to serve in his example."

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The group of 24 teens and 11 sponsors work with the Jackson Area Ministries to come up with projects to work on while here.

One Ironton resident who the group helped Tuesday was Grace Greene.

The 90-year-old woman said she needed help with a leaking porch roof.

"I used to do all this stuff myself but now I can't," Greene said. "I think it's wonderful they took a day off to do this."

Hining said the projects are tasks they can do, nothing that takes professionals.

The group at Greene's home tarred the roof and painted a shed for her.

The rest of the group was working on other projects in areas including Lick Creek.

"It's fun," said JoAnn Collins, a 17-year-old who has come to Ironton for four years doing this. "We like helping people out. People are always thankful."

No one at Greene's was sure how long the church had arranged a volunteer group, but Duane Shaver said he thought it had been going on longer than the nine years he has participated.

The 35 volunteers have split up into groups to get as much done as they can while here, but they leave Friday.

"Nobody in this town does anything like this," Greene said. "It'd do a lot of good, keep the kids off the street."