Several charitable organizations in Juneau are crossing items off of their to-do lists this week with the help of a Washington-based church group.
Sixteen kids and eight adult chaperones from Liberty Bible Church of the Nazarene in Vancouver, Washington, are spending the week volunteering at the Glory Hole, the Southeast Alaska Food Bank and the Salvation Army.
The group is in town on a mission trip, its members looking to do “whatever jobs need to be done,” Emma Taylor, 16, said.
Taylor spent Wednesday painting and cleaning downtown Juneau’s homeless shelter with several of her peers. Bryan Heriford, one of the adults on the trip, is stationed at the Glory Hole all week.
For him, the trip is about helping the organizations finish some of the work they don’t usually have time to get around to.
“We’re just here to work alongside the people who are here in the trenches every day,” Heriford told the Empire Wednesday morning. “We’re just trying to help with some of the upkeep that they don’t have time to do.”
The church’s worship pastor, and Emma’s dad, James Taylor — not the singer — grew up in Juneau and recommended returning for the mission trip. During the past few months, he reached out to the three organizations that the group is working with to set up the trip.
Glory Hole Director Mariya Lovishchuk and food bank manager Darren Adams both said that the group has been a big help so far, especially since both organizations are thinly staffed. So far, the volunteers have been cleaning and painting the shelter and the food bank.
The mission group also brought a commercial contractor and building supplies with it, which Lovishchuk said has been incredibly helpful. Though mission groups work with the shelter frequently, Lovishchuk said it doesn’t often get such experienced volunteers.
• Contact reporter Sam DeGrave at 523-2279 or sam.degrave@juneauempire.com.
