CAMPAIGN KICKOFF PROGRAM, SEPTEMBER 13, 2020
(Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, Syracuse, NY)
The dry pews inside Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ provided a welcoming sanctuary Sunday for the 50 or so participants there to participate in the Community Campaign for Love’s official kickoff. Rain that soaked the city of Syracuse and surrounding areas earlier in the day had subsided by mid-afternoon, but nonetheless forced the proceedings inside where attendees heard from a variety of speakers during the roughly 45-minute program.
State Sen. Rachel May joined members of InterFaith Works’ Round Table of Faith Leaders, Apostolic senior pastor Maxwell Jones and the Rev. Dr. Bruce Burns, senior pastor at Hoops Memorial CME Church in affirming the campaign’s message of love. Reggie Kelly, founder and executive director of Rise Above Poverty, Syracuse also accepted the Community Campaign for Love’s first symbolic act of love — donations of soap, hygiene products, underwear and socks, as well as more than $1,000 collected from campaign supporters, for the non-profit agency that serves Syracuse children living in poverty.
Community Garden Kickoff, April 24, 2021
(Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, Syracuse, NY)
Besides Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ and students recruited by the Syracuse University Student Association Engagement Committee, the Community Campaign for Love thanks Excellus and TNT Southside for their support that is transforming this plot of land into a model community vegetable garden for others to replicate.
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CHICKEN COOP PROJECT, MAY 20, 2021
(Onondaga Nation Farm, Syracuse, NY)
Members of InterFaith Works’ Round Table of Faith Leaders joined the agency’s staff at the Onondaga Nation Farm outside Syracuse to help install fencing beside a coop for 15 baby chicks gifted to the Nation by Jen Lawrence, employment manager for the agency’s Center for New Americans. The Community Campaign for Love’s outreach effort, which was made possible through a fund-raising campaign organized by the campaign, also included the offering of chicken feed and other supplies, as well as a large chicken coop purchased and transported to the Nation from a country store in Seneca Falls.
COMMUNITY GARDEN PUBLIC EVENT, JUNE 12, 2021
(Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, Syracuse, NY)
Members of Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ and nearby residents were on hand June 12 for a neighborhood “coming out party” of sorts for a new community garden, taking shape on a patch of land adjacent to the church on Syracuse’s South Side. They came to celebrate the onions, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, collard greens and peppers planted by church members and volunteers associated with the Community Campaign for Love, an initiative of InterFaith Works’ Round Table of Faith Leaders. Church volunteers, Syracuse University students and members from the Round Table, representing a variety of faith traditions, got their hands dirty leading up to and during the garden’s public unveiling by building raised beds, shoveling top soil, spreading mulch and, of course, planting the seedlings being counted on to grow into more than something to chew and swallow.
At the garden’s public debut, donated hot dogs and hamburgers were grilled and served to adults and children who joined in the planting and quickly took to the hands-on task of forming so-called “seed bombs.” Volunteers also handed out free “bucket gardens” and tips to successful gardening tips.
COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN FOR LOVE HARVEST LUNCH, OCTOBER 2, 2021
(Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, Syracuse, NY))
About 40 members of Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, volunteers and neighbors close to the faith community joined InterFaith Works’ Round Table of Faith Leaders outside the church for a lunch hosted by the Community Campaign for Love. Attendees also took home the bounty of collard greens, sweet potatoes and other vegetables harvested at the Community Garden that first took shape back in April and nurtured since by volunteers and members of the Community Campaign for Love. Surplus food not served at the harvest lunch was donated to a local shelter.
