Missoula Youth Work Hard to Help Needy

“Youth Serving Christ” in Missoula, Mont., has taken to heart Jesus’ admonition to serve those in need, performing many service projects and taking on a couple of causes along the way.

Most recently, they hosted a rummage sale to benefit a young adult from Stevensville, Mont., who was seriously injured in a car accident.

During the Christmas season, they held their second annual food drive, collecting more than 1,000 items of baby food, diapers, wipes, and accessories.

Then, in January, the group set out a jar and collected $100 in spare change for Camp Make-A-Dream, a retreat for children with cancer. They also collected and delivered food boxes to members of their congregation and held a car wash that raised more than $200 for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency’s 3-to-1 matching grant program.

Their “One Banquet, Many Tables” benefit for The Poverello Center, a local homeless shelter, brought in $400.

For the fund-raiser, the group set up a restaurant in the Mountain View School gym, complete with candlelight and checkered tablecloths. Waiters escorted diners to their tables and took their orders soon after they were seated.

Instead of paying their tabs, however, diners deposited donations in an envelope for Poverello Center—amounts consistent with the tab they would ordinarily spend for restaurant meals.

The Missoula congregation is proud of the active youth group and encourages its members to keep up their inspirational good work. •

Featured in: September 2002