Garland Street Church of Christ of Plainview, Texas hosted their third annual weekend youth retreat in Ruidoso last weekend. As part of the group’s studies and the retreat’s major lessons, 13 girls were sent to the Sweet Charity repeat boutique, the upscale shop that supports Help End Abuse for Life (HEAL) and The Nest.
Laura Patterson, the organizer for the retreat, said the weekend-long event includes lessons, devotionals and service. The group has supported Sweet Charity for all three of its annual retreats.
“We were referred to Sweet Charity by The Nest,” Patterson said. “We had first asked if they take volunteers. They explained exactly what services were offered at the shelter and sent us to Sweet Charity as a way to support the shelter.”
The girls were quickly put to work by Dora and Susan, the retail staff that run Sweet Charity, who were already prepared with a list of tasks that needed to be tackled. Four were assigned to dust the furniture, some checked for broken items and cleaned items, and more were tasked with bagging up winter clothes and putting out the new summer wear display.
The girls cheerfully reported that they enjoyed the work because they knew the connection between their service and who they were ultimately helping. “They love getting out to work,” Patterson said. “It’s something fun to do together. It’s one of the highlights of our weekend. They always do a little shopping, too. They know what they’re helping out here.”
Over the weekend, the group also made 30 “blessing blankets” from fleece to donate to the women and children who are residing and will be residing at The Nest. After completing their service project, the group returned to their base to talk about what they had learned.
“I think we let ourselves get busy with life,” Patterson said. “It’s nice to make time to do for others. I actually think that in some ways it does more for us – we receive more – than for who we are helping.”
The retreat is a service not only to Sweet Charity, HEAL and The Nest, but also to the community. When youth are challenged to learn how to understand suffering and develop kindness, compassion, and empathy, we all come one step closer to the vision of a world free of violence and oppression.
Pictured are the youth from Garland Street Church of Christ of Plainview, Texas, who recently performed community service at HEAL’s Sweet Charity Resale Boutique.
