On ShareFest weekend, local churches and organizations come together to show Christ’s love in tangible ways through service. Each year, hundreds of volunteers handle between 250 and 300 projects in one weekend, cleaning up yards, picking up trash, washing windows and hooking up swamp coolers for disabled persons and seniors in Mesa County.

More than 30 churches are expected to participate in this year’s ShareFest on Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1. Community members can submit project requests starting March 18 through April 18. 

By doing work for those in need, ShareFest organizers and volunteers hope that residents will see the work being done in their neighborhood and recognize needs they can help with year-round.

“It’s an awareness to be kind,” said HOPE of the Grand Valley President Vicki McGee, who’s headed up ShareFest with Debe Colby since its local beginnings 15 years ago. 

This year, ShareFest has partnered with A Little Help, a nonprofit that recruits volunteers to meet the recurring needs of older adults—needs that go hand in hand with those taken on by ShareFest volunteers but that require more than a weekend to accomplish. McGee and Colby hope the partnership shares the good that ShareFest does in the community with year-round implications.

“We have people who do ShareFest for the weekend and who are willing to do more but they don’t know what more to do,” said Colby. 

Signing up with A Little Help gives these volunteers the opportunity to do more good deeds for older adults throughout the year.

“At some point down the road, the person that ShareFest helps may need respite, or a care call, so it just makes sense to us to work together,” said Rick Smith, Western Slope coordinator for A Little Help.

Submit a need and volunteer

If you would like to submit a request for a project, or would like to volunteer, call McGee at 970-778-4880 or sign up at www.gjsharefest.com. 

ShareFest organizers are taking extra health precautions to ensure safety and comfort for both volunteers and work recipients. 

“If you want us to come inside and wash your windows, we will,” said Colby. “If volunteers look at a project that says windows need to be washed inside and out and they aren’t comfortable going inside, please don’t sign up for that project.”

For more information on A Little Help, call 970-404-1923 or visit www.alittlehelp.org.