The season of giving: Baptist Church presents donations to several area organizations

GRUNDY CENTER – The holidays are traditionally a time of giving, and the congregation at the First Baptist Church of Grundy Center is making an extra effort to give back locally this season.
During Sunday’s church service, Pastor Nathan Barkley – on behalf of the church – presented three checks to three different area organizations: the Grundy Center Police Department, the Grundy Community Preschool and Childcare Center and the Little Rebels Learning Center in Reinbeck. Each organization received $1,100, which was collected through a fundraising effort by members of the church.
Barkley, who’s been with the church for the past four years, said the congregation has been refocusing their annual giving to be more locally-oriented – and he feels people have responded extremely well.
“Traditionally our church does an annual Giving Drive in the fall, and in the past our church has donated all the money to our missionaries; it tends to go overseas,” he said. “And it’s not a bad thing to send money overseas, because there’s needs over there, but there are needs right here at home, too. So we’ve kind of relooked at our programs and what our goals were, and how we’re investing in our community locally.”
“Our church has historically been a very giving church; when there’s needs, our church tends to rise to the occasion,” Barkley said. “And my focus as a pastor was to start focusing their attention to needs to what’s happening here in Grundy Center.”
With that in mind, the congregation as a whole decided on the three area organizations to donate part of the money from their annual Giving Drive to. The remaining money will be used for a large community-wide event sometime in the spring or summer.
For the full story, see this week's Grundy Register.