NEW CASTLE After 'Rescue Patrol' visit, church goes on a mission

Churches in four counties have been told about the mission's services.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Youngsters attending vacation Bible school at Bethel United Presbyterian Church in Enon Valley knew they were going to support the New Castle City Rescue Mission this year, but after a visit from the "Rescue Patrol," the entire church became involved.
Bethel church members have committed to serving meals one Sunday a month at the mission's main facility on Croton Avenue, said Frances Booterbaugh, the mission's volunteer associate.
"There is a great stereotype of who we are and who we serve. We thought Bible schools would be a great way of not just reaching kids, but the pastors and community folks," she said.
Booterbaugh is the Rescue Patrol, and she has been visiting churches in Lawrence, Mercer, Beaver and Butler counties this summer to talk to youngsters about the mission's services to the homeless and needy.
"It teaches the kids a lot about being givers," she said.
Practical things such as sharing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a friend are ways of teaching the vacation Bible school youngsters, who range in age from 3 to 11, about giving and stewardship, Booterbaugh said.
How it came about
The idea came as part of a brainstorming session with Mary Lee Green, wife of Kevin Green, the City Rescue Mission's executive director, on how to get more people involved at the mission during the summer.
The simple message of stewardship -- teaching children that everything is a gift from God and must be taken care of -- became the focus of the Rescue Patrol, Mary Lee Green said.
"We want to be a service to the church and our community. It's a positive program for everyone involved," she said.
Cherie Andrews, coordinator of Bethel church's vacation Bible school, said once the children learned about the City Rescue Mission they started to bring in more than money to help.
"Once they showed the children where everything was going, they started bringing in toothpaste and shaving cream and other things," Andrews said.
And it wasn't only the children. Adults in the congregations became more interested, too, Booterbaugh said.
"It starts out with we want to get our youth involved, but as I talk to the youth pastor or parents, they see the ministry opportunities are endless," she added.
Helping out
Some have taken collections at their regular services and others have decided to volunteer at the mission, Booterbaugh said.
"It's a way to get church members to take ownership in the mission. It is doing what we hoped it would do -- make more churches feel connected to the mission [and] make them feel this is our ministry, not just those people at the City Rescue Mission," she said.
And the youngsters are having fun.
Raising money has become a competition, and the church donating the most money will get a trophy next month.
The trophy will travel each summer to the church that raises the most money through vacation Bible school, Booterbaugh said.
She said mission has received nearly $3,000 in donations from vacation Bible schools this summer.
cioffi@vindy.com