Clients at Friends of Sinners lent a hand to those in need for Giving Tuesday as an effort to fundraise while also giving back to the community during COVID-19.
The men met Tuesday morning despite the rain, and they cut grass at several homes in a neighborhood on Greenhill Drive.
Jordan Wilson, development director at FOS, said the staff was bouncing ideas for Giving Tuesday and someone suggested helping older members of the community.
Giving Tuesday is a global generosity movement when people come together and find ways to give back through financial resources or volunteer work.
“We try to give back what we can,” he said. “We don’t necessarily have money to give charity but we’ve got the manpower. We’re not going to be able to help a whole lot of people, but we’ll be able to help some.”
The men drove to several spots in town and removed graffiti from dumpsters, traffic control boxes and other structures.
Dewey Wilhite, who came to FOS in 2018, said he and the others volunteered because it feels good to help.
“They don’t have to do this but they choose to,” Wilhite said. “It’s a privilege. It’s a blessing to do these kinds of things. I love it.”
Wilson said FOS staff and clients also prepared sack lunches at New Life Baptist Church, which will be handed out later to those in need.
“We’re asking for the community to make donations to us, but we also want to show the community that we’re giving back in the ways that we can too,” Wilson said.
FOS is a Christ-centered, long-term residential drug recovery program for men and women.
