Categories: Good San Franciscans

Anybody Can Serve.

Crescent City Foursquare Church celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend by volunteering in the community of San Francisco.

Nearly 50 years ago, congress named Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a national day of service. King once said, “Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”

36 volunteers participated in a community wide park beautification project at John McLaren Park, as well as served throughout the city of San Francisco.

With only 4 full-time workers, one can only imagine how much work goes into restoring 312 acres of land. John McLaren Park is the second largest park in San Francisco, after Golden Gate Park. Half of the Crescent City team helped the San Francisco Rec and Parks staff beautify the park by clearing a lot of over growth and conducted trash removal. In the two hours the team was there, it would have taken the full-time workers all day, possibly even longer.

Having hearts ready to serve was all that the group needed to make a major impact on the park. “It was a great way to enjoy a beautiful bay area day and restore one of San Francisco’s hidden gems,” said co-founder of Church + Mission Pastor, Noah Coombs.

Another team worked on beautifying the Mission Terrace Bridge Garden. During a typical work week there is a lot of foot traffic. The group focused on graffiti removal, and weeding and ivy abatement. Lead volunteer, Mary, mentioned how incredibly grateful she was to have so many volunteers.

In the heart of San Francisco, one can find the Waller Center, a safe, urban retreat and community center. We were fortunate to accommodate our mission team here. Not only was this a place for our team to eat, sleep and worship, they also gave back to the Waller Center by helping put together 10 bunk beds.

Jones and Eddy is known to be the heart of one of the most dangerous parts of San Francisco. Our team worshiped and handed out doughnuts and coffee on the streets in the Tenderloin.  Due to the wet weather many homeless and residents were very happy when group members offered fresh dry socks and delicious granola bars. “ I can’t remember the last time I had a doughnut” said one Tenderloin resident.

Senior Pastor at Crescent City Foursquare Church, Roger Bodenstab said, “My heart is full to overflowing by the incredible ministry to love and serve San Francisco. Our team is going home not as ones who view serving as an event, but rather a lifestyle.”

If you would like to set up a short term mission experience with Urban Exchange, you can click here.