Tearing down walls and building community often starts in the smallest ways, such as two diverse organizations coming together for a gardening project at a local park.
āIām so excited about diversity, inclusion and equity. Everyone is talking about it,ā said Russell Joel Brown, who heads a group called Boys With a Future, an outreach through St. Luke United Methodist Church in the Harrisburg neighborhood.
“Itās one thing for people in Washington, D.C. to make proclamations about the need for diversity, but the real change happens when people come together on a much smaller stage. We have to do it on our own on a personal level,ā said Brown, whose group is partnering with members of the student ministry at Church of the Good Shepherd in the Summerville neighborhood and the Azalea Garden Club on Saturdays in March to beautify the Azalea Walk at Pendleton King Park.
On March 6, about 25 adults and children came together to rake leaves and clean up the area.
āThis is a great opportunity for us to give back to our park,ā said Roger Speer, the Church of the Good Shepherdās student ministries coordinator.
Speer said many of the students in his group are in middle school. High school students often have their own interests such as sports and other activities at school. And many of the programs he does with the students at Good Shepherd are social and recreational ones. He wants to do more outreach within the community.
The partnership between the two groups and churches grew out of a relationship between Brown and Speer.
āRussell is so great about addressing the real issues,ā Speer said.
Brown said the goal is for the students to get to know one another and to show that people need each other.
āI canāt make it without you, and you canāt make it without me,ā he said.
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Brown said he believes the first weekend went well. Did members of his group leave best friends with members of Speerās group? No.
āThey worked together– at least in the same place, doing the same thing. There was no pecking order. They were all on an even playing field,ā he said.
The two groups will continue their joint service project for the remainder of the month.
Speer said he expects more students to turn out on March 13 and the subsequent Saturdays, and he plans to get his students into the community more in the coming months.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her atĀ charmain@theaugustapress.com
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