Community Corner
Works Sunday Draws Volunteers Across Many Faiths
Annual event has wide impact on Reston community.
While Democrats and Republicans won’t agree, as some late-night comedians have joked, on a brand of toilet paper, different faith communities in the Reston area will come together Sunday, Aug. 21, to foster compassion and offer support to the ailing, hungry, homeless and lonely.
Works Sunday, 2011, a day of service, brings together different faiths in the community to help those less fortunate.
With 17 activities from which to choose, volunteers can do anything from repairing the deck at the Gabriel House for working adults with disabilities to sharing lunch with the residents of the Harbor House Senior Residence to stocking shelves at Reston Interfaith Emergency Food Pantry.
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For those unable to take part in the day’s activities, donation opportunities for supplies, provisions and funding, at these and other facilities, abound.
“[One of] the goals is to make the members of our congregations more aware of the needs of the community, and more involved in meeting them,” says Marilyn Silvey, an organizer for 15 of the events.
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Works Sunday began 16 years ago when Reverend LaVerne Gill, a then-student at Princeton Theological Seminary and intern at United Christian Parish of Reston, asked several local organizations what she could do to help. She recruited congregants from Heritage Fellowship Church and Trinity Presbyterian Church, and Works Sunday was born.
It has continued to grow ever since, with 21 different faith communities — churches, synagogues and temples — participating this year, though volunteers need not be a member of these, or any, faith-based groups to participate.
“One of the four goals of Works Sunday is for participants to get to know one another better as brothers and sisters, and that has led to some interesting partnerships,” said Silvey. “The All Dulles Area Muslim Community needed a place to hold its weekly Friday afternoon worship services, the Northern VA Hebrew Congregation offered its building, and the Muslims accepted. It seems to work out well.”
Sign-up opportunities and a list of volunteer activities are available on the Works Sunday website, www.WorksSunday.org.
Contact Chris Wist at CWist@TerpSys.com or Info@WorksSunday.org for more information.
