Guest Article: The Importance Of Serving Others

8th grade students Collin Hammersley, Carson Herman, Jacob Dykman, Elly Hooker and Jade Bills serving at the TrueNorth food truck. Photo by Tom Stepanek

Students at Fremont Christian School have been busy this fall giving back and serving communities near and far!
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By Melinda Barnhart, Director of Family Relations, Fremont Christian School

Education at Fremont Christian School goes beyond textbooks and exams to include teaching the importance of being God’s light in a world full of need. This fall staff, students, and families at FCS partnered with organizations in Fremont and Grand Rapids to serve those in need and to give back!

On October 26, Kindergarten through 2nd grade staff and students hosted an Art Prize and Cake Walk event, where votes bought for student artwork and tickets sold for a cakewalk together brought in over $2,500 for World Renew’s hurricane relief efforts in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.  World Renew director Carol Bremer-Bennett visited to receive the check and gave a presentation to students on what the money raised will be helping with. It was extra special when an anonymous donor who heard about the event decided to match that gift! 

Following the hurricane fundraiser event was the annual CANter fun run.  Every year 3rd-8th grade students run a two-mile race and collect canned goods to subtract minutes off their finishing time. Younger students cheer on the staff and student runners and collect canned goods to earn extra recess/break time! This year students collected 1,570 lbs. of food for TrueNorth’s food pantry! 7th grade students then delivered the collected food to TrueNorth and helped stock the pantry. 7th and 8th grade students also recently served at TrueNorth’s food truck (which they will continue to do throughout the year), helped set up for the annual Coats for Kids event, and will help sort toys for Toys for Tots.

At the beginning of November, 3rd through 8th grade staff and students served the Fremont community by walking around town and raking leaves where needed. This is a yearly event at FCS, and includes students of all ages working alongside each other, and often many parent volunteers as well, searching out those that could be blessed with a little extra help with their yard work.

The 8th grade students also continue their tradition of selling popcorn twice a month to raise money for cancer care bags created for local cancer patients. These bags include water bottles, water flavor packets, hard candy, handmade blankets, hats, bandannas, and socks all placed in an FCS drawstring bag and delivered to Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial twice a year.

Lastly, staff and students are currently trying to reach a goal of collecting 2,500 pairs of new and gently used shoes to be distributed to 25 countries around the globe. Local businesses have partnered with FCS and contributed to this need as well!

The Fremont Christian School family is thankful for the support and opportunity to teach students the importance of serving others!