2,100 church volunteers serve

throughout Central Oregon

    REDMOND — Saturday, Sept. 25 was an unprecedented day of community throughout Central Oregon as more than 2,100 volunteers from more than 50 churches served in the cities of Sisters, Bend, LaPine, Redmond, Prine-ville, Madras and other smaller comunities as well. It all took place under the banner of “I ‘Heart’ Central Oregon.”
     An estimated 3,300 pounds of food were collected just from Bend. Food drives in the other cities filled local food banks including the Oasis Soup Kitchen (Prineville), Faith Harvest Helpers (Red-mond), Community Kitchen (LaPine), Jefferson County Food Bank (Madras), and Kiwanis Food Bank (Sisters).
     In each city, beautification projects were completed for local park and recreation departments and schools.
     Madras Gospel Mission and the Oasis soup kitchen each got a face-lift. There were two Habitat for Humanity builds. Assistance was provided for local seniors, veterans and single moms. In LaPine alone, $7,000 in food cards were given to families in need.
    More than 70 projects were completed. Among the agencies helped were Central Oregon Teen Challenge, Healthy Begin-nings at the Rosie Barris Center, Bethlehem Inn, Saving Grace, Hospice of Redmond, Neighbor Im-pact, Healy Heights beautification project and the Family Action Network.
     In the evening, more than 8,000 people gathered at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds for a celebration with musical guest Elliot and internationally acclaimed Christian motivational speaker, Nick Vujicic. Hundreds responded to Vujicic’s invitation to accept Christ. During the event attenders also set a new unofficial Guinness world record for number of hugs given in an hour, at 1,749 hugs.
     The organization be-hind the event, The Heart Campaign, exists to inspire people to live lives of service to one another under the banner phrase “Love is Action.”
     For more information on The Heart Campaign contact Elisa Earwicker at 541-728-3134, Jay Smith at 541-350-6029, or go to the-heartcampaign.com