Working Together and Loving Each Other

It isn’t a word that we use often in service but there’s no better word to express the outpouring of support that the community has shared with one another this holiday season: love. People of all ages have shown up, giving of their time, talents and resources in an effort to care for and support each other. Youth from k-12 have tended garden, made love notes, cooked, baked, packed and served food to neighbors. Individual families have done mini cooks and teams of families have come out for evenings of service. A local team of retirees, “The Solo Group”, has partnered with Chatham Alliance to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches twice a month as an extra gift of, yes, love.

Before Chatham Alliance became the 501(c)(3) ASCC, we were simply a group of volunteers from a few local churches and community members that decided to serve together. We called ourselves the Chatham Chuckwagon. Our goal was to work together to offer a little bit of support to our neighbors. Our hope was that if we pooled our resources and provided a safe and inclusive place where anyone who wanted could work together to serve each other then maybe we could help to build a more caring and connected community.

Today, we are a team of nearly 200 volunteers committed to one another and our community. This is what love looks like.