Sharefest spreads the love

Rev. Harriet Cross estimates she’ll want more than 100 volunteers for an August event that will connect residents with the things they need most; jobs, food, clothing, medical care and more. Cross, the pastor at the First United Methodist Church of Wilmington and chairperson of the Wilmington Pastor’s Association, is in charge of coordinating a local Sharefest, an event that will bring community and area social service providers to one place, at one time, so that residents can learn what resources are available, and experience what the agencies and organizations can do for them. The Methodist Church Men’s Club was searching for a community service project, Cross said, and really wanted to coordinate an event of this kind. Men’s Club member Steve Francis contacted former Wilmington resident Gary Cheney, who organizes several Sharefest events in Will County each year. He was more than happy to help. “Everybody in Wilmington is excited about having a sharing and caring event, and I’m grateful to all of the help down there. It’s really amazing how it’s all pulling together,” said Cheney. He is impressed with the cooperation of the community, the coordination of the event and the volunteers coming on board. Cross explains that Sharefest is an opportunity for people who are in need of anything that would make their life better, to find it. “It's food, it's clothes, a Job Fair, social service agencies, churches, and people ... in one place at one time, for somebody to say ‘for everything that's going on in my life that I need help with, this is where I can go to get that help,’” she commented. She’s excited that the churches want to be a part of the event; that they all want to work together on the same thing. “I'm excited about just all the churches being able to come together and to say, this is something that we can all get behind. And we don't have to compete against one another, but we can work together,” Cross said. Sharefest is a national movement but is not organized under any one entity, according to Cheney. He became inspired to help people in New Lenox, where he now lives, in the late 90s. He had a tremendous amount of support from the churches, organizations, village and county. Sharefest in New Lenox started as a one-day event, grew to be three days, then 11 days and finally a perpetual resource. “It just took off like a rocket ship,” he said. “... With that kind of success, building huge numbers of partners, literally hundreds of partners, we felt compelled to go out into other communities and share”. Joliet, Romeoville, Lockport, University Park, Monee were asking for help, so the Sharefest volunteers came up with the idea of loading things onto semi trucks and going to communities to put on four-hour events. Sharefest partners with local groups that “run the show.” The organization acts as a mentor to the local volunteers, shares its resources and connects with the local community to help them help themselves, with a goal of local sustainability. Local participants include the park, school and library districts; Kuzma Care Cottage; Our Caring Closet; the Rotary Club; the Wilmington Coalition for a Healthy Community; the Pastors Association and the Wilmington Emergency Services and Disaster Agency. This is no small event. There will be fun for the whole family, with bounce houses, bubbles and a free lunch. Participants can also find health screenings and chances to learn about assistance programs such as Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Those who would like a little spiritual guidance in their lives can attend a prayer session offered by the Pastor’s Association, and can accept a free Bible from Gideons International. (There is no requirement to participate in these activities to participate in Sharefest.) “... It’s feeding people, clothing them, helping them with social services, with jobs, education — all of those things, and making it kind of a festival of what I like to call sharing and caring,” Cheney commented. “When you do that in a community people will rally around that and make the community a better place to live, because they realize that there’s a whole bunch of people out there who really do care.” According to Cheney, Sharefest usually brings enough resources to aid 300 to 400 families. “We’re bringing in 30, 40, sometimes 50 pallets of food,” Cheney said. “That’s not something a food pantry can provide. “...We literally give the food away by the caseload,” he added. “... People walk away not with a bag or two of groceries. People walk away with a carload or truckload of food. We want to feed them for a month.” Anyone attending Sharefest is encouraged to take more than they need and share it with someone they know needs a little help. Cheney goes up and down the food lines to deliver that message. He tells those in line, “We want you to take everything that you need, but we also want you to be a giver, and give everything that you can; and we’ll supply you with it.” “... That’s one way that we’re enabling people to go help other people, and that’s why we bring in so much food — because food is the big attraction,” he said. Participants can also share what they don’t want or need at Sharefest — or exchange them for items they do want or need. “We take that stuff that comes in, and we provide that to another community the next week. It’s a pay-it-forward,” Cheney said. Anybody is welcome to participate in Sharefest. There is no income verification or qualification criteria. “We would welcome anybody, we don't want to make a distinction. As a matter of fact, we want it to be, for instance, if someone says, ‘Well, I don't need food, but I know my neighbor does,’ then you have an opportunity to go and to get the food to be able to help your neighbor or to help your community,” Cross notes. “We just love. It’s love and everybody needs love. So whoever comes to this event, we’re going to love them by giving them food and clothes, books and educational resources,” Cheney said. Sharefest is also an opportunity for people who want to be more involved in their community to find a way to be involved — to learn about ways they can volunteer to do some good in their hometown. Cross encourages potential volunteers to visit www.sharefestwillcounty.org then click on volunteer and choose the Aug. 10 Sharefest Wilmington High School to find a list of volunteer jobs and time slots. The website also includes listings for other events, including other sharing and caring events, recycling events and more. Sharefest will be held on the grounds of Wilmington High School on Saturday, Aug. 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ESDA will provide a cooling tent, and if there is inclement weather, the event will be moved indoors. Cross hopes Sharefest will be an annual event. “We’re so grateful to come into the community, we’re looking for everybody to come in and take part in this festival of sharing love with our neighbors,” Cheney concluded.