Upholding a vision to welcome all, love all, and serve all, the Apex United Methodist Church is supporting the youth of tomorrow through their Youth Engaged in Service program, which took place during the weekend of January 27 to January 29, 2023. The Y.E.S. program was founded in 2011 by Mandy Wilkins, and this year it offered middle school students the opportunity to volunteer with 12 different local non-profits. Over the years, the Apex United Methodist Church has partnered with many more ministries, and students had a chance to participate with a selection of these organizations this year—like Feed the Kids, the Western Wake Crisis Ministry, and the Corral Riding Academy—in Apex, Raleigh, Durham, and Cary. Students had the opportunity to clean the barn at Corral Riding Academy, host a food drive at the Western Wake Crisis Ministry, and volunteer at other non-profits—all while building relationships with their peers and serving their local community.
“Y.E.S. is built on this kind of balance,” said Tanner Johnson, the Youth Ministry Director of the Apex United Methodist Church. “We want to make sure that the kids are doing a lot of different things in a short amount of time. Having the opportunity to serve others and serve God are all things that are valuable. It’s helping to provide an opportunity in the hopes of inclining them closer to public service. We’re hoping that through Y.E.S. our students get to know God more, others more, and a little more about themselves too.”
During the Y.E.S. program, students had the chance to meet each other through icebreakers on Friday, travel to non-profits from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, and close out their experience on Sunday. Middle schoolers slept at the church on Friday and Saturday with their friends, having time to socialize and speak about their volunteering experiences. Parents were also required to volunteer behind the scenes at Y.E.S.—serving dinner in the church, setting up spaces, and arranging snacks for the kids.
“We structure our teams to be eight or nine middle schoolers, two or three high schoolers, and two or three adults as well,” said Johnson. “There’s lots of people from a lot of different schools, so it’s really amazing to watch 13 people come together and create a new family in such a short time.”
The collaborative effort in arranging the program consists of a variety of volunteers—20 adults, 16 adult team leaders, and over 50 parent volunteers A four-person planning team assists in this process as well, preparing for the Y.E.S. program six to eight months in advance and emailing non-profits ahead of time to affirm their availability during the Y.E.S. weekend. Transportation is arranged in the form of seven 15-passenger vans, which take students to volunteer sites in different cities.
“We’re hoping to encourage students to get out there and serve—to think about God’s love for others,” said Johnson. “It’s not serving to make yourself feel good but serving God and serving others. It’s helping them engage in service and being mindful of all the opportunities to serve others in our community. We want to create a new style of community, putting action with the words, and we’re hoping that they will connect the actions in their daily life to their relationship with God.”
One of the non-profits partnering with the church during the Y.E.S. program this year was Feed the Kids, a volunteer-run ministry acting against childhood hunger. The operation provides weekend meal bags containing non-perishable foods to students who participate in the free and reduced lunch program. Though Feed the Kids started with 11 students at one school, it has grown to serve over 200 students per week at eleven schools with the support of a full leadership team. The volunteer-run ministry acquires food from the Food Bank of Eastern NC and local stores.
“This is the first year that Feed the Kids has participated in Youth Engaged in Service,” said Jenn Orr, the Director and Volunteer Coordinator of Feed the Kids. “They helped to clean, reorganize, and decorate the food pantry. Feed the Kids has over 30 regular volunteers who help us each week to shop for food, pack bags, and deliver the bags to the schools. Our donations come from church members, the community, and school food drives.”
Middle schoolers had a chance to reflect on their volunteering experiences with other non-profit organizations on the evening of Saturday, January 28, gathering on the 2nd floor of the Apex United Methodist Church. Representatives from different teams recounted the community service they participated in during the afternoon: selling hot chocolate and pastries at Western Wake Crisis Ministry, cleaning shelves and reorganizing rooms for Feed the Kids, making sandwiches for Brown Bag Ministries, and spreading mulch for kids to play on at Kelly Road Park.
While residing at the Apex United Methodist Church for the Y.E.S. program, middle schoolers are divided into teams and take part in chores like washing dinner dishes and assisting in breakfast cleanup. They use the compassion they’ve developed through volunteer work to give back to the church staff by their side.
Other non-profit organizations, like the Mabopane Foundation and the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina, are partnering with Apex United Methodist Church alongside Feed the Kids, the Western Wake Crisis Ministry, and the Corral Riding Academy. (The Mabopane Foundation supports orphaned children in Mabopane, South Africa, who are housed in Ya Bana village, through donated items, pop-up sales, and monetary donations at the Mabopane Foundation’s Mission House in Apex. All proceeds from the drop-off donations and monetary donations go towards children in need in Mabopane.)
The Western Wake Crisis Ministry is also doing a great deal of good for the needy in western Wake County, partnering with the Apex United Methodist Church since 1983.
“The people of Apex UMC have collaborated with the WWCM by providing goods for the WWCM pantry, special Thanksgiving meals, and financial donations to help WWCM meet the financial needs of their clients,” said a representative from the Western Wake Crisis Ministry. “The people of Apex UMC are committed in helping our local neighbors in need through Western Wake Crisis Ministry.”
Families in need may visit the Western Wake Crisis Ministry’s food pantry every 30 days to acquire food and basic household items. Most-needed donations are provided on a weekly basis by the Apex United Methodist Church.
“The Apex UMC participates in a community-wide special drive in May and June,” the WWCM representative added. “They stock the shelves with donations at the WWCM pantry to cover clients’ needs over the summer, when donations are low. WWCM calls this their ‘Summer Stock Up!’ food drive. WWCM also provides their clients with a special Thanksgiving meal in November. Each client receives the same meal. The meal consists of specific food items, including a turkey and a gift card, so that each client may shop for the specific items that fit with their family’s Thanksgiving meal. Apex UMC participates by donating gift cards. In addition, small groups within the Apex UMC, such as Y.E.S., the Youth Group, Sunday School classes, etc., organize their own events to collect donations for the WWCM throughout the year.”
The Apex UMC, the WWCM, and the 11 additional non-profits involved in the Y.E.S. program this year share a unified vision: they promote the values of compassion, equity, and optimism to assist others through service.
If you would like to learn more about the Y.E.S. program at the Apex United Methodist Church, visit their website at apexumc.org or call 919-362-7807. You may also contact the Church Administrator, Jennifer Peacock, at jennifer.peacock@apexumc.org, or the Youth Ministry Director, Tanner Johnson, at tanner.johnson@apexumc.org.
