“It made me appreciate what I have”; Local church youth group serves community

   The Emory Church youth group is a local group of 6-12 graders who often help serve their church and community through various projects. The group has been around for many years but has shrunk in size over the last few years due to COVID.

      The group is now run by Mrs. Jamie Greer, a member of the church. Other members such as Mrs. Jeanie Tilley and Ms. Jen Galbreath help with events and meetings as well. Normally, the group meets twice a month at Emory United Methodist Church, and they have “lessons about Bible stories, scripture, and how we can be better Christians,” according to Greer. The group is funded by donations from the congregation, and they host fundraisers like a pancake supper and ice cream socials as well.

      Recently, the group has partnered with Revive Us Ministries, which helps the homeless in Harford County. Greer said that “on numerous occasions, [they] have packed over 100 peanut butter sandwiches” which are passed out weekly. Some members also packed over 300 hot turkey dinners that were taken to the homeless in Aberdeen and Edgewood. Around the holiday season, the youth group made cookies and packaged them with handwritten notes to go with a Christmas dinner delivery of lasagna.

      Each January, kids in the group make blankets for “seasoned” and ill members of the community, and often send birthday cards to “members of the congregation who are 70 years old and up.”

      Other projects include packaging Operation Christmas Child boxes. These are boxes that are delivered to poorer children, who often don’t have essential things like toothbrushes or towels. Around 150 boxes full of care items for medical staff were assembled and given out at local hospitals, doctor’s offices, and nursing homes as well.

      Besides participating in community service projects, the group likes to have fun too! Each year, they host a lock-in for members, where everybody spends the night in the church. Occasionally, they also go bowling or visit a trampoline park. Greer would “love to participate in a mission trip in the near future” and get involved with other organizations. She mentioned that the church recently purchased new streaming equipment and thinks it would be really great if the youth learned how to operate it to stream Sunday services.

      Brody Ivy, a junior at Aberdeen High School, has been a part of the group since the sixth grade. His favorite project they’ve done was “volunteering at the food bank, located at Bel Air Methodist Church.” After he volunteered once, he “ just kept going back. It was fun, fairly easy, and made me appreciate what I have.”