THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 24, 1994 TAG: 9408230146
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Long : 124 lines
FLORENCE ELAM HAD been away for six weeks. She was looking forward to returning to the slightly rundown, two-story house she's called home for 40 years.
But that's not what was waiting at the end of her Zuni driveway.
During the weeks that Elam, 77, stayed at a daughter's while recovering from surgery, her house had received a face lift.
After more than three decades of wear, the peeling beige paint had been replaced with a crisp, fresh coat of white. The old, sagging screen around the front porch was tight and sparkling in the sunshine. And soon, the tin roof was scheduled for a fresh coat of silver paint.
``It's so beautiful it doesn't even look like my house anymore,'' Elam said, smiling broadly. ``I had told my children my house needed fixing up . . wonderful people and what they have done.''
THE ``WONDERFUL PEOPLE'' are members of the Isle of Wight Christian Outreach Program. The group is made up of members of the congregations of 21 local churches, people who have contributed their time, energy and resources to improve life in this rural community.
One sweltering Saturday in June, more than a dozen volunteers braved the heat to help repair Elam's home. Within hours, the team knocked down an old brick chimney, re-screened the front porch and began scraping old paint.
``The sun was broiling down that day,'' said Joe Spratley, president of Christian Outreach. ``But seeing everybody else working so hard just made me want to scrape even harder!''
CHRISTIAN OUTREACH BEGAN in January 1991 during a missionary committee meeting at Christ Episcopal Church. Richard MacManus, a supervisor of engineering at the Surry Nuclear Power Station, was one of the founders and the group's first president.
Organizers had seen a newspaper article reporting that the Isle of Wight Department of Social Services had already depleted its annual fuel assistance resources. The committee brainstormed for an idea to help.
Someone suggested a soup kitchen. That way, even if people didn't have heat in their homes, they could escape for a while and enjoy a bowl of hot, homemade soup.
That's when committee member Fred Glanville cooked up a better idea: Souper Saturday.
He proposed selling tickets to an all-you-can-eat soup luncheon and donating proceeds to Virginia Power's fuel assistance program.
To ensure the project would be a communitywide success, Christ Episcopal enlisted help from eight other churches: Benns Methodist, Bethany United Methodist, Good Shepherd Catholic, Main Street Baptist, Gravel Hill Baptist, Trinity United Methodist, Smithfield Baptist and Smithfield Church of Christ.
The churches quickly organized and one month later, on Feb. 9, 1991, they raised $1,000 at the first Souper Saturday.
That day's success whetted the churches' appetites for community service, and it led to the creation of the Isle of Wight Christian Outreach Program Inc.
``This thing has taken off,'' Glanville said. ``It has far exceeded anything Richard MacManus or I ever imagined in the beginning.''
ORIGINALLY, SOUPER SATURDAY was intended to be a one-time fund-raiser, but it was so successful that it is now held every fall.
In 1993, Christian Outreach cleared $7,000 from the soup sales - a 700 percent increase from 1991.
Each year, the organization invests in the Isle of Wight community with proceeds from the soup sale and donations from other sources, including United Way, member churches, individuals and organizations.
Besides its fuel assistance and housing rehabilitation projects, the group also sponsors projects for senior citizens and children.
Christian Outreach helps fund a free dental clinic, where eligible seniors can receive basic dental care.
A Senior Citizen Christmas Tree helps members to collect holiday gifts for the elderly.
In addition, the group sponsors youth achievement activities for children who have been identified as potential dropouts. In return for academic success, the group provides the children with the opportunity to learn karate, basketball or baseball.
``We don't want to duplicate services already offered in the county,'' MacManus said. ``We are looking to fill the gaps.''
Christian Outreach depends on referrals made by public agencies, such as the Isle of Wight Department of Social Services or SEVAMP, to learn about needs in the community, MacManus said.
Linda Bean, the county's Director of Social Services, said she believes Christian Outreach has made a difference.
``Christian Outreach reconfirms my belief that people really are good and want to help one another,'' she said. ``The members are just doing what comes naturally to them.''
Matthew Elam of Zuni, one of Florence Elam's sons, agreed.
``I think it's a wonderful program that has proved its name to the Isle of Wight community,'' he said. ``I think every church in every community should become involved in an organization like this.''
That's exactly what Joe Spratley, the current president of Christian Outreach, is trying to make happen.
The 21 churches in the organization are located in the Smithfield and Carrollton areas. But over the next year, Spratley plans to take the Christian Outreach message to other churches. MEMO: Souper Saturday 1994 is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at
Trinity United Methodist Church. Tickets _ $5 for adults and $3 for
children _ are on sale now from members of participating churches.
ILLUSTRATION: Photos by ERIC BROOKS
On the Cover: Lee Stiltner, a member of the Isle of Wight Christian
Outreach Program, discusses repairs with Mamie Holmer and her oldest
daughter, Mamie Wise.
June Stiltner applies elbow grease to a house in need of repair,
just one of the projects the Christian Outreach program has
undertaken recently.
June Stiltner scrapes the front of a house that the Christian
Outreach program has taken on to repair.
Lee Stiltner examines the rotten drain gutters removed from the
house.
by CNB