Throughout a four-day span in June each year, hundreds of people in red shirts can be seen canvassing the city, completing various service projects. It’s all part of SERVE Noblesville, an annual initiative to help, give back and tidy up the community and surrounding areas.
“(SERVE Noblesville) started off as a group called Faith Hope and Love. It was based out of Indianapolis, and their hope was that they would get all the surrounding communities to do a very similar type of format for service projects,” said Patrick Propst, SERVE Noblesville chair and lead pastor at Faith Community Church. “The idea was that the communities involved would do it all on the same week. It was usually at the end of the summer, and we did that for six years from 2008. For us, the timing was bad, so we decided we would still love to do the projects, but earlier in the summer.”
From there, the Noblesville-based group set a meeting in 2013 and became SERVE Noblesville.
Six years later, the initiative, currently seeking 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, is going strong and is larger than ever. It expects to have more than 750 volunteers complete more than 50 service projects in the Noblesville area between June 27-30.
“When we started, we were probably doing, at most, 20 projects, and we were probably pulling 200, maybe 300 volunteers,” Propst said. “The last two years we’ve been just under 800 volunteers each year.”
SERVE Noblesville is accepting applications for volunteer groups, team leaders and projects through April 7. The group will open registration for individual volunteers in early June.
“We have many different activities that require many different skills and different skill levels,” Propst said. “Everyone is welcome. We just say that if you’re under 16, you need a parent with you.”
New this year, the service organization will offer half-day volunteer opportunities to volunteer groups that cannot commit to a full day of service, which is typically 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“So, folks can only come out from 9 a.m. to noon, or they can only come out from 1 to 4 p.m.,” Propst said.
Applications are being accepted now through April 7 for the following team leaders (those willing to lead a group of volunteers on projects), general projects (not related to home repairs), home repairs and construction groups (register your group to serve together), corporate partners (choose one of multiple ways your business can offer support) and restaurant partners (help provide an on-site lunch each day to volunteers).
Applications can be completed at servenoblesville.com under the “How to Serve” tab. When applications are submitted, SERVE Noblesville organizers will follow up with additional questions and next steps. Follow SERVE Noblesville on Facebook for regular updates, or email [email protected] for more information.
STAPLE PROJECTS
New projects are added each year for SERVE Noblesville’s hundreds of volunteers. However, some of the organization’s staple projects include things like the annual Sidewalk Cleanup for brick sidewalks in Noblesville’s downtown.
The annual You Call, We Hall project lets area residents donate unwanted items, which later are organized and resold at the Hamilton County 4-H Fairgrounds in Noblesville.
Crafts for a Cause also will return in 2018 and serves four to five causes in the community.
“We’re based out of Noblesville, but projects and volunteer groups or business partnerships don’t have to come exclusively from Noblesville,” Propst said. “We’ve done Westfield, Cicero, Arcadia, Atlanta, Clarksville, etc. We have a couple of projects this year that will send us down to Carmel if those work out.”
PARTNERSHIPS/BOARD
The following organizations and groups all hold a seat on the SERVE Noblesville board:
- Hamilton Area Neighborhood Development (HAND)
- Habitat for Humanity
- Noblesville Main Street
White River Christian Church - Bethel Lutheran Church
- Green Valley Church of Christ
- Faith Community Church
- Million Meal Movement
SERVE Noblesville also works each year with businesses that sponsor projects as well as the City of Noblesville’s parks and street departments.
