People stepping up to help others

You could hear his voice bellow over the sounds of the fair. Here he was, in the middle of it all on the midway waving and talking to people as they walked by. Jeff Watson, pastor of The Foundation Church, was having a great time Monday afternoon at the Huron County Fair. It was a big couple of days for Watson. On Saturday, he and his church participated in the Love Norwalk event on Main Street. Now, two days later, he and his crew were at the fair showing some more love. If you want to make things happen, get out and do it yourself. There have been three events the last couple of weeks where people have stepped up to help others. Two weeks ago the annual Stuff the Bus event was held to collect school supplies for children. The Project Leadership event, headed by Reta Stark and Judy Sommers, steps up each year to help others. In its 12th year of operation, the goal of Stuff the Bus is to provide book bags and school supplies to needy children in the Norwalk community. The book bags will also be accompanied by a family-friendly hygiene bag. A committee of local volunteers — which includes a group of St. Paul High School students — plans and completes this program just prior to the opening of each school year. All students need to be prepared with the necessary school supplies in order to feel confident their first day of school. The team of seniors from St. Paul High School include: Ashante Clinton, Julianne Colvin, Chris Kocher, Emma Lukasko and Makayla Vasquez. Project Leadership, which sponsors this program, is a non-profit organization whose mission is to train members of the Huron County community to become skilled leaders. For additional information about this organization view the website at www.huroncounty leadership.com. A week ago Saturday was the second annual community cookout sponsored by Restore Norwalk at Veterans Memorial Lake Park. The group is hoping to raise funds and awareness for its next big project, a free public splash pad at Suhr Family Park on West Main St. in uptown Norwalk. It is a monumental project, but don't ever say no to Jeff Westcott. "This is fabulous," Westcott said at the event on a hot, steamy Sunday afternoon. "Our community has really stepped up. Showed up. And they have re-instilled in my heart the value of the community of Norwalk. They came out to be together." When you throw a party like this, you are really never sure of who will show up. "Especially after COVID, we weren't sure what would happen today," Westcott said. What is the status of the proposed splash pad? "Roughly we are looking at $117,000 to $120,000," he said. "Last I checked we were right at about $18,000. We are hoping to raise $6,000-to-7,000 today." Again, somebody stepping up to help the community. Finally, this past Saturday, Main Street was shut down for Love Norwalk. Thanks to 12 churches in town coming together for the event, everything was free for children and families as they get ready for school. There was free food, haircuts, backpacks, healthcare items, diapers and more. There were even people dancing in the streets on a perfect summer evening. "You know what, I think it is so great to see all of the wonderful people in Norwalk coming out and being able to experience God's love and seeing all of the churches working in unity," Watson said. "All of the fellowship. All of the people. Spending time together. It is exciting seeing all of the ministries working together. Physical needs and spiritual needs." Watson said he has lived in the Columbus area and this is something that would never happen there. "We live in such a great community," he said. "We can shut down the street of Norwalk and just be able to love on the people. Not many communities can do this. This is a special place. "It's a beautiful thing." Joe Centers is Reflector managing editor. He can be reached at jcenters@norwalkreflector.com.