School, church groups join forces to bring aid to Joplin

By ASHLEE STALLINGA

Mt. Pleasant News

Mt. Pleasant Christian School and FCOC will be taking a group of about 30 volunteers down to Joplin to aid in the relief efforts in the aftermath of the tornados that devastated the area.

The group, made up of MPCS high school students, alumni, and faculty as well as members of FCOC and its pastor, leaves Sunday afternoon, June 26, and returns on June 29.

According to Pam Goeddey, MPCS preschool teacher who is organizing the trip, there are parents of MPCS students who have wanted to do something to help the people in Joplin since they first heard about the tornado damage.

Two of those parents were talking to a faculty member in the school office about what they could do when Goeddey walked in and overheard them.

?It?s amazing how God works,? Goeddey said. ?I had just come back [from Joplin]; I [have] connections down there.?

After that, plans for the trip developed quickly.

?It all came together in two weeks,? Goeddey said. ?God moved. We couldn?t have done it on our own.?

Goeddey contacted FCOC as well, and they are joined in the effort.

Gary VanNyhuis is the pastor of FCOC, and his wife, Shannon, is an elementary teacher at MPCS. They have two children at the school.

?[Goeddey] called about going together,? VanNyhuis said. ?We [as a church] had talked about it, but we didn?t have anything concrete. [The phone call] really motivated us.?

VanNyhuis is licensed to drive FCOC?s full-size bus, which will fit all 30 people for the nearly eight-hour ride to Joplin.

?I?m thankful for the number of people that are able to go and serve,? VanNyhuis said. ?I appreciate the opportunity to go outside our comfort zones and local area, to serve and love others as Jesus loved and served us.?

MPCS will provide a 15-passenger van, which ? once all the seats are out of it ? will transport the supplies. Goeddey will be driving the van.

The group is taking a collection of toys for children ages two through 12.

?It?s toys they can actually play with, like Legos,? Goeddey said. ?This is like Christmas for the kids?they?ve lost everything.?

MPCS fourth and fifth graders purchased and donated food for the trip. The students decided to collect their Christmas money instead of buying gifts for each other this past school year. Then, when the weather got warmer, they walked over to ALDI to get groceries, and now they?ve donated them to the people in Joplin.

The Mt. Pleasant Music Boosters Club is donating about 10 instruments, which will go to the school system. The group is also taking other supplies, such as diapers, paper towels, plastic cups, cleaning supplies and canned food. And of course, they?re bringing manpower.

They will have three options for work: they can work in the field, clearing brush, trees, and some houses that are not salvageable; the church, serving meals, unloading trailers, and doing general clean up; or the warehouse, stocking the supplies that volunteers bring to be distributed.

?We?ll go wherever they need us, with willing hearts,? Goeddey said. ?And God will put us where he needs us.?