Natalie Putman took part in IHOPE day of service to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

PICKENS — What happens when you bring people with needs together with people who are willing help? The answer for some in Pickens is a tremendously successful IHOPE Day of Service.

In celebration and recognition of Martin Luther King Day, volunteers from the Pickens community and area churches came together on Monday, Jan. 20, with the sole purpose of helping homebound citizens, most of whom were elderly, with chores they were unable to complete on their own.

Meta Bowers, executive director of Pickens County Meals on Wheels, matched the volunteers with the residents.

The diverse group of 43 volunteers represented residents from the Vineyards Community, United Way of Pickens County, Pickens congregations, youth groups and other caring people who cleaned homes, raked yards, installed weather stripping around doors and windows, replaced light bulbs and a myriad of other tasks that really needed to be done. Most importantly, the volunteers demonstrated by their actions that they truly cared about the people they served.

IHOPE (I Help Out Pickens Everyday) coordinated the project, the third successful community service event since its inception in the spring of 2013.

“As the community celebrated Dr. King’s commitment to bring equality to all people, IHOPE wanted to combine our efforts to serve others,” said  the Rev. Beverly Kelly, founder of IHOPE. “There will be other IHOPE Day of Service events in the near future, and we invite everyone to join us. It was gloriously exhausting and unbelievably rewarding to know that we made a difference in someone’s life.”

Duke Energy provided the funding to purchase materials to weatherproof the homes.

For more information about how to join IHOPE, contact Kelly at (864) 364-0649 or Pickens County United Way president Julie Capaldi at (864) 850-7094 x101.