Highlands deploys more than 22,000 volunteers in bigger-than-ever Serve Day in Alabama and beyond

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Jul 15, 2024, 07:00 ET

Serve Day featured Collaboration with Convoy of Hope, delivered more than a half million pounds of food and essential items to those in need

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., July 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Church of the Highlands is celebrating the joy of volunteering as 22,309 people spent their weekend Saturday helping others in the community. The church's annual Serve Day, held July 13, coordinated 141,054 hours of volunteer service bringing people encouragement and hope. This year, Serve Day also included a new national partnership to distribute 500,000 pounds of food to the hungry.

Two Serve Day volunteers serve snow cones at an international picnic where Auburn University students from different nations gathered to build relationships while playing games and cooking out. It was one of more than 1,000 Serve Day projects on July 13.

Using the Serve App to coordinate and deploy volunteers on a large scale, Senior Pastor Chris Hodges issued an "all call" for every member of the 26-campus church to make a difference in their communities. The church hopes to inspire everyone to discover meaning and purpose through service.

"The Church exists to make a difference in the lives of people around us, and Serve Day is just one of those opportunities," Hodges said. "We love serving our communities."

Serve Day is a national effort, with 2,772 churches around the country joining Highlands in celebrating their own Serve Day. Highlands developed a free app and gives it away free to any church that wants to use it so they can personalize it to their church to organize serve projects and connect volunteers. At Highlands alone, 1,040 projects conducted on July 13 met both physical and spiritual needs, serving 24,327 meals and reaching 131,418 people including the poor, foster families, widows, people with medical issues, our nation's veterans and the elderly. Through these projects, they support institutions such schools, women's shelters, food banks and homeless shelters to continue their important work.

2024 Serve Day featured new collaboration

This year's Serve Day featured a national collaboration resulting in the largest service project of the day. Through a partnership with Convoy of Hope, Church of the Highlands, The Association of Related Churches, Servolution and 11 other churches, more than a half million pounds of food and essential items like socks and shoes got to people who needed them in more than 13 communities across the country.

Convoy of Hope, a faith-based humanitarian organization based in Springfield, Mo., brought 52-foot trailers to the participating churches filled with food and essential items for community members in need. Hundreds of volunteers at each location unloaded the trucks, packed grocery bags and distributed them in the community, including at two Highlands campuses– the Grants Mill campus in Birmingham, Ala. and the Montgomery Campus in Montgomery, Ala.

The churches involved in the collaboration are Celebration Church in Jacksonville, FL; Citizens Church in Nashville, TN; Faith Family Church in Baytown, TX; Life Church in Memphis, TN; Lifepoint Church in Clarksville, TN; Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, VA; Milestone Church in Dallas, TX; Substance Church in Minneapolis, MN; The Way Church in Nashville, TN; VOUS Church in Miami, FL; Zoe Church in Los Angeles, CA; and Church of the Highlands.

"We know that getting more people involved in service and helping their neighbors strengthens the community, provides encouragement and hope to the hopeless and opens people's hearts to the love of Jesus," Hodges said.

Serve Day's approach is special because it encourages church attendees and members of small groups at the church to serve together, support each other in causes important to their members and deepen relationships within groups. To get involved with service at Church of the Highlands, learn more through the Growth Track at https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/growth-track.

About Church of the Highlands: Church of the Highlands is a Birmingham-based, life-giving body of believers with 26 campuses across Alabama and Georgia that exists to help people know God, find freedom, discover purpose, and make a difference. We honor Jesus by following his example, including by ministering to over 1,000 incarcerated individuals in our weekly services at local prisons. More information is available at the Highlands website.

SOURCE Church of the Highlands