Crosslines: Caring for those in need

SW Missouri has many wonderful organizations that serve our communities. Two organizations are Crosslines which serves Taney, Christian and Greene counties. One organization Crosslines partners with is JustServe.org. Hank Molinengo, the local JustServe.org representative said he has "participated in JustServe.org since 2012 when I was living in the Washington D.C. area." Just Serve is a free service by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The website states "volunteer needs of organizations are posted, and volunteers can search for opportunities to serve." On a personal note, "I volunteered in Plano, Texas, around 2012 when we had a peanut butter drive collecting hundreds of peanut butter jars for local pantries."

It was a great day for SW Missouri on Thursday, August 5, for area communities to receive welcomed supplies. "In commemoration of America 250 Celebration of America, a Just Serve semi-truck delivered 40,000 pounds of food, to the Crosslines center from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Salt Lake City, UT" stated President Jarvis from the Springfield Stake, of the local Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It's inspiring to see youth and adults volunteering to support those in need around our communities. Parents brought their children and teenagers from several area congregations to help. Crosslines has several programs throughout the year—a food pantry that serves thousands of pounds of food to local community members. In addition, they have set up a clothing section for foster care children and teenagers who need clothing or formal wear.

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For this project Diana Flannigan, program director for Crosslines, and Bambi Wurzburger, food services volunteer and guest services coordinator, were very busy multi-tasking the volunteers that day. Ken Carpenter and Hank Molinger, area managers of Just Serve.org along with local church leader Devon Jarvis of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, led the joint efforts to accomplish this community service in a short period of time. President Jarvis said "the church has done a lot throughout the years to help Crosslines. A while back they needed a forklift and it was provided." Bambi also takes care of overseeing the Ambassadors for Children (AFC) clothing program for foster care children and teenagers.

Deeper Bags is another part of Crosslines which serves 22 counties in SW Missouri. Youth and adults worked side by side to package 20,000 diapers and several totes of underwear organized for delivery. Between 6-7:30 p.m. approximately 100 volunteers gathered to help prepare supplies in bundles to later be distributed throughout our tri counties. The volunteers were working like busy bees and seemed to be enjoying their time there. I spoke with one parent who brought her teenage son and she was glad they were there. Like many community organizations, both Crosslines and JustServe.org ought to be praised and supported for their community service. Community members can go online to see where they can serve in however much time they may have to volunteer. For more information, visit CrossLines.org and JustServe.org.