TEMPLE, TX — In a partnership with the city, the First Church of Nazarene on 31st Street in Temple hosted a Serve Temple event.
The group of church members alongside community volunteers went to five locations across the city to help fix up the homeowners’ yards because they can’t do it themselves for various reasons.
One of their stops? At Denise Duncan’s house, someone who has had a tough year.
“I usually pay somebody but because my income has kind of gone down a little bit, so I haven't had the money to really do certain things,” Duncan admitted.
One of the things she hasn’t been keeping up with is her lawn.
With tall grass in her front year and an overgrown backyard, she just couldn’t afford to keep up with it anymore.
”I just try to have it cut, maybe every two weeks, or when I have the money,” she said.
That’s where the churchgoers and volunteers come into help.
“It's very important to let people know that there are still lots of us that care,” Darin Pound, the church’s pastor said. “Not just from our church but the community as a whole, [who] care for one another, help each other and and work together.”
Dodging the rain, they got to work Saturday morning.
They fixed up not only Denise Duncan’s home, but four other properties as well.
They found the properties that needed the most help with the help of the city.
“Temple is a great place to live, great people, great sense of community, and just a great opportunity to live and share with our neighbors,” Pound explained.
At the end of the day, they hope this act of kindness inspired others to pay it forward and inspire a bit of hope within each person helping and receiving.
”I try to be a blessing to other people too,” Duncan said, smiling. “To pay forward, because you never know when you may need some help too.”
