Foothills United Methodist Church in collaboration with Santa Sophia Catholic Church, Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church, and the many volunteers that make up the Common Ground Ministry have, for the past eleven years, made a difference in the lives of children at six elementary schools in the Spring Valley area. Students in need at Avondale, Bancroft, Casa de Oro, Highlands, Kempton, and La Presa elementary schools continue to benefit from donations of food, supplies and the personal touch of our dedicated volunteers.
Common Ground began the 2011-2012 school year with a new chairperson, Dr. John Parsons, who brings over 30 years experience working in the La Mesa Spring Valley School District and a commitment to build on the strong foundation provided by Chuck Muller.
Over thirty dedicated and excited Common Ground volunteers gathered in October attending the Volunteer Kickoff to prepare for another year of service to our community's children and families. Among those in attendance were founding members Chuck and Annie Muller whose leadership and commitment over the years still inspire us all. The focus this year will be to continue our many programs that supply food, books, and supplies to children, while working to get more volunteers into the classrooms. Improving our communication by using e-mail, a blog, and a database in the “Cloud” will be an important goal for this year.
In 2011 Common Ground provided 90 complete Thanksgiving meals for families at our schools. Donations from all three churches were very generous. In addition, over one hundred Christmas gifts were donated by Foothills UMC members. Other donations over the year include; school uniforms, clothing, backpacks, lice kits, hygiene kits, phonics phones, dry erase markers, pencils, paper, crayons and other school supplies. The Common Ground Books-4-Kids program delivered thousands of new and gently used books to students to begin their own home libraries.
To keep abreast of the needs of the region, the Common Ground team continues to send a representative to each monthly meeting of the Spring Valley Youth and Family Coalition. These meetings also provide an opportunity to hear about other programs serving this diverse community and help Common Ground leadership determine where our resources are best utilized.
Many thanks go to Cathy Spetter and Marilyn Honea for keeping the vision alive as chair and interim chair this past year and to the continuing steadfast dedication of Theresa Erb - Foothills UMC, Sister Margaret Eilerman - Santa Sophia, and Pastor Dan Roschke - Shepherd of the Valley, as the staff liaisons to Common Ground,
John Parsons, Chair
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