Churches join hands to paint elementary schools

Churches join hands to paint elementary schools

By Mark Johnson

August 9, 2005

KANSAS CITY – More than 760 volunteers from three Northland churches – Pleasant Valley Baptist, Antioch Bible Baptist and Gashland Presbyterian – reached out beyond their church walls and came together July 5-16 to paint Linden West and Nashua, two elementary schools in the North Kansas City School District.

Roles for the volunteers from the three churches ranged from cleaning and sanding to taping and painting. Groups came to work in the morning, afternoon and evening.

Volunteers painted a total of 38 classrooms, 11 hallway sections, 24 offices, five restrooms, a kitchen and a media center. The volunteers used more than 200 gallons of paint, 12,000 yards of tape, 4,800 feet of plastic, 100 paintbrushes and 60 rollers. The volunteer labor saved the district $40,000.

Project supervisor Dale Bishop said he enjoyed working with the volunteers.

“We had a great group of people this year,” he said.

Bishop worked with Pleasant Valley volunteers last summer when they painted Maplewood, another elementary school in the North Kansas City School District.

That was the first year for the Paint the School project, which evolved through Pleasant Valley’s partnership with the North Kansas City School District.

David Emmert, associate pastor for outreach at Pleasant Valley Baptist, said other churches were asked to join Pleasant Valley Baptist in this summer’s project for a reason.

“We are hoping this type of community service will become infectious,” he said.

As for what the future holds, Emmert said the church already is working on plans for next summer.

“This type of community mission project will continue,” he said.