Church in the Community launches Help Campaign

IN January, Campoverde Church in the Community launched its Community Help Campaign. As well as setting up a Community Food Bank, currently helping to feed a number of local families, it included leafleting every house in the village asking: ‘Do you need help?’ and ‘Can you provide help?’ We were greatly assisted in this by the Campoverde Walking Football Team, who took on a big chunk of the delivery. As a result of this leafleting we are now providing help to a number of households. We also have nearly 30 volunteers on our community volunteer register.

One of the first people identified for needing help was Pat. Pat lost her husband suddenly during the first lockdown here in Spain. She is unable to walk unaided and then her mobility scooter broke down and couldn’t be repaired. This left Pat confined to her house. When she was brought to our attention, she had been renting a scooter per day but couldn’t afford to keep up the payments. Louise from Portobello Restaurant and Bar asked if there was anything Campoverde Church in the Community could do as part of our Help Campaign.

We approached Pedro at La Pinada Mobility Shop in Campoverde, from where Pat had been renting and asked if there was anything he could do to help us help her. He very kindly agreed to take all the rent paid so far off the cost of a new mobility scooter and refunded the price of the battery charger Pat had bought.

Pedro said: “I am so happy to be part of such a caring community and always try to do my best for my customers.” We then put out a call in the community for donations to help reduce the remaining payments. To date, we have received nearly €700 in donations and are on track to reach close to the full amount with only a small amount to pay outstanding. This is a tremendous achievement and is yet another demonstration of the incredible generosity of the people of Campoverde, the ‘little village with the big heart’.

Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

If you would like to assist in our Community Help Campaign or know of anyone needing help, contact Maggie Dew on 623 016 231 or e-mail maggie ruthdew@hotmail.com