For the 15th straight year students in grades K-12, teachers, staff and parents associated with Faith Christian School in Southwest Roanoke County rolled up their sleeves and went to work for Project Faith, a daylong community outreach effort that is also a fundraiser.
This year Project Faith went back to the school’s roots in the Grandin Village area, where it began in the basement at then-Virginia Heights Baptist Church.
Hundreds of students and others spent the day painting, landscaping and performing other chores at the Grandin Theatre, Local Roots Restaurant or at places like The Church at Grandin Village.
That’s where 11th grader Jonathon Patane said he was helping with “some nice touches at the church” that also included cleaning toys in the nursery. “I gain a great sense of giving back to the community … it’s nice to come out here and give back. To see the joy on the faces of those that work here … is a great feeling.”
Project Faith is a fundraiser; students write letters to family, friends and others asking to be sponsored. The goal this year was to raise a minimum of $185,000, a number expected to be met and surpassed. Over the past 15 years Project Faith has raised over two million dollars for the school, which moved into its own campus on Buck Mountain Road several years ago.
FCS parent Jennifer Leyes was overseeing The Church at Grandin Village project, where about 200 people of all ages were painting, scraping, landscaping and planting. “They are getting things done,” said Leyes, who has three children in the private school. “We try to make sure we shared with [students] before they leave today the impacts they’ve had. Next week the folks from the church get to come [to a school assembly] and tell the kids again how special it was for them to be here.”
By Gene Marrano
