Since its founding, America has been a country full of people with different backgrounds, beliefs, and hopes for our shared life. A country this diverse is at its best when neighbors know one another, serve together, and bring the love of Christ into their communities. So, to celebrate July 4th, we asked local NCF teams across the country to share stories of team members doing just that.
America’s early civic life was deeply shaped by Christian ideas, including Jesus’ command to love our neighbors. Even before the country’s founding, the Mayflower Compact emphasized the idea of the “general good” – putting community welfare above individual needs.
In 1736, Benjamin Franklin helped organize the Union Fire Company in Philadelphia. Citizens volunteered to protect their community from fire. Across the country, early Americans built churches, schools, libraries, mutual aid societies, and local associations because they saw needs close to home and felt a moral obligation to help.
That spirit continues today. According to the latest national research from AmeriCorps and the U.S. Census Bureau, 75.7 million Americans formally volunteer, contributing nearly five billion hours of service and generating an estimated $167.2 billion in economic value in a 12-month period.
For Christians, giving our time and resources to help those in need in our communities has been a distinctive part of our rich heritage for millennia. We serve others because every person bears God’s image, and every community matters to him. It’s how we live out Jesus’ command to love God and our neighbors.
NCF teams all over the country are regularly inspired by the work we get to do, the generous people we get to meet, and the impact of generously stewarding all God has entrusted to us. So, to celebrate the hope of a country whose strength comes from neighbors loving and serving one another, we asked members of our NCF network how they volunteer in their own communities. Read a few of their responses below.
Melissa Russell, NCF National Team
I just completed my 16th school year volunteering with Path United, a local after-school program in mobile home communities. The ministry inspires kids growing up in these communities on their path to become flourishing adults.
I work with kindergarten through 2nd graders, and I’ve been able to watch so many kids grow up to be the first in their families to graduate from high school, go to college, and pursue careers they never imagined.
These kids, their families, and the team at Path have widened my world in ways I couldn’t have imagined and shown me how they all make this country beautiful.
Anna Campbell, NCF Indiana
Our church recently hosted a Journey of Generosity (JOG) with 14 people in attendance. Toward the end of the JOG, attendees were invited to ask God what their next step of obedience should be. Several individuals returned to the group with a burden to do something tangible for the houseless folks we come across in our neighborhoods each day.
This one communal spark of inspiration mobilized more than 25 people in our church to buy and collect donations and convene three weeks later for a Pop-Up Park & Pack Party (we know, the name got out of hand!). We ate together, packed backpacks with supplies for our houseless friends, and each person left with a pack to put in their car for the next person in need who God placed in their path. It was such a spontaneous and joyful expression of God’s transforming generosity. We already have the next date on the calendar!
Christy Choi, NCF Chicago
The NCF Chicago team has had the privilege of volunteering for 9/11 Day for the past couple of years. This event is the largest federally recognized day of service in America and has become a national movement that inspires more than 30 million people each year to honor the anniversary through acts of kindness and service.
In cities across the country, 9/11 Day organizes large-scale meal packing events that mobilize thousands of volunteers to assemble millions of nutritious meals for Americans facing hunger. As a sponsor and participant, our Chicago team has joined 2,000 volunteers to help pack 500,000 + meals each year, creating a truly meaningful moment for our team members.
Debra Potter, NCF Georgia
My mom and dad attended a small church in our city for more than 30 years. As my mom’s health declined, I would make sure she was still able to attend her Bible study and became very close with the other women in it. At one of the studies, a woman asked me if I would be willing to be a substitute bell ringer and explained that without the perfect number of bell ringers, they would not be able to play. I love music and these women, so I said yes.
When I arrived at my first practice, I quickly realized that I has been misinformed; I would not be a substitute. The conductor and other bell ringers were so excited when they were told I would JOIN the bell choir! Well, as God does, he has given me the greatest joy in serving in this way – more than I could have asked for or imagined. When I make a joyful noise to the Lord, he fills my heart with gladness and gives me fellowship with his children and a sacred ministry of bringing his people into worshipping him through music.
Ruth Baker, NCF National Team
At the beginning of 2024, my husband and I heard about There’s Hope for the Hungry (THFTH) at one of our community’s local churches. I’ve always had a heart for the hungry, so it caught my eye, but the cause closest to my husband’s heart is the Great Commission. This was a perfect match.
My husband took the training to become a counselor, and one Saturday, we participated in a dental clinic day. Wow! What an experience that was. It was at an apartment complex where a lot of the clients were immigrants from Guatemala and Mexico. I spent all morning listening to their stories and sharing Jesus with them. I still remember the tears in multiple ladies’ eyes, missing the children they’d left behind.
Then, in the fall of 2024 my church began having a THFTH ministry day. Now I have a monthly opportunity to use my voice to share Jesus with people and pray with and encourage people in need.
