Great River Faith in Action (GRAFIA) recently held their 12th annual "Rake the Town & Gather 'Round" event this past weekend, raking the lawns of nearly 100 homeowners in need of a helping hand around Sherburne, Wright, Stearns and parts of Meeker counties.

 

This year, over 500 volunteers raked and hauled away leaves, including youth and leaders from churches, individuals, couples and organizations like Becker Evangelical Free, Faith Lutheran, Grace Lutheran,  Saron Lutheran, Living Water Church, South Santiago, Riverside, Mary of the Visitation and Becker Baptist churches as well as NHS students from Becker and Big Lake High School, Big Lake boys and girls scouts, employees from the Big Lake Dairy Queen, the Kellen and Pfaff families and other groups and individuals from the Clear Lake, Becker, Big Lake and Monticello areas. 

 

Lisa Kollar of the  Great River Area Faith In Action (GRAFIA) office coordinated the efforts of the over 300 volunteers in the Becker/Big Lake area who raked over 40 lawns and served well over 1,000 hours.

 

Rake the Town volunteers visited over 100 lawns in four counties, 16 communities and gave of themselves for over 2,000 hours of service. 

 

Afterwards, a meal was held as a measure of thanks for the rakers' hard work and the "Gather 'Rounds" were organized by the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) out of Elk River and the host church, Grace Lutheran Church. 

 

GRAFIA Executive Director  Denice Freih said a couple from one of the communities the volunteers have been visiting year-after-year met up with their designated group from Full Grace Gospel Church in Dayton. The couple, known only by their first names, Jack and Margaret, explained a unique situation they had in regards to their raking their lawn.

 

“Margaret met them outside and explained her husband's wedding ring went missing a couple weeks ago after they had done a little yard work,” said Denice. “She (Margaret) asked if they would keep an eye out for something shiney while they were raking.” 

 

Realizing how much the ring meant to the couple, one of the group's leaders (Oksana) gathered the group together and prayed they’d find the ring.

 

A while later,  Oksana was raking in an area behind the house. As she was sifting through the leaves looking for the ring before moving them to a bigger pile to be hauled away, she found Jack’s ring. 

 

“She was so excited, she let out a squeal and held it up for everyone to see,” said Denice. “The group started shouting, and took off running towards the house to show Margaret the ring had been found.”

 

"We've been married 58 years, so it means more than you can know to have his ring back,” said Margaret. “I still can't believe it! Of course, you know they prayed first and then the gal who prayed was the one who found it. Just goes to show you, God answers prayer!”

 

Another story that emerged from the Rake the Town event is a story of a woman named Ella, who has lived in her house for more than 50 years. Her husband died a few years back and though she has family that takes care of many of her needs, her backyard went untended.

 

“So last year she called Faith in Action for help with it and a group came out to rake as a part of Rake the Town.” said Denice. “She just loved it and told us that when she called to register for this year's event, ‘I can't wait for that group to come back from that new church,” she said.

 

“They brought their kids and families and they were all so friendly and helpful,” Ella said. Denice said she could hear her tears as she said, ‘They made me feel remembered.”

 

And Ella wanted the volunteers to feel blessed so she woke up early last Saturday and made homemade brownies, cookies and caramel popcorn for her hearty workers.

 

“Raking's hard work,” she said as her voice trailed off. “I want them to know how much their help means to me.”

 

For more information on Faith in Action and the youth project or the volunteer or caregiver programs, please call 763-263-4277, or stop by the office at 13074 Edgewood in Becker.