Hi-Line Heroes: FACC and NMHC

A hero is someone who sees a need and uses their own talents and resources to meet that need. This was exactly the case for Fifth Avenue Christian Church's "Fridays at FACC" and Northern Montana Hospital's "Introduction to Volunteering." When Havre Public Schools moved to the four-day week, there was a huge need to provide something for the kids to do on the off Fridays when a "Support Friday" was not offered at the schools. Mandy Nitz of FACC and Elizabeth Lindbom, Director of Volunteer Services at NMHC, answered the call.

Mandy Nitz, a Havre High School teacher, remembers a question that was presented when the four-day school week was first being discussed. Many, including teachers and administrators, feared that children would not have the care and food needed that they regularly received in a five-day week. Someone asked, "Doesn't our community have the resources to meet this need?" Mandy and her husband Jeremiah asked their Bible Study to pray about this need.

Mandy recalls that former School Superintendent Craig Mueller (deceased October 22, 2022) truly had a "heart for the least of these." Mandy and others wanted to do something that would honor Craig's wishes. Throughout the summer the need for something on Fridays kept coming back to Mandy. Finally, she gave in and asked her Bible study group what they thought. To her amazement the response was completely for a program to meet the needs of the children in Havre on the off Fridays.

The Bible study group agreed that the program should not be a burden or heavy labor for just a few. And so, just before school was to start last fall, Mandy came forward after the church service and presented to the congregation her vision to meet the need. She had made a sign-up sheet of different areas people could volunteer. The response was phenomenal!!!!!

Each Friday includes a Bible Story is taught by either Kim Kaftan or Ila McClenahan. Each session features a different theme and activities: Here are some:

• Mechanical and the Body of Christ by the local Car Club and FFA

• Homecoming with the HHS Football team

• Science – Hill County Electric and MSU-N Science Department

• Halloween Carnival – HHS Key Club

• Studio of Dance and Art

• Christian Crafts and Baking

• Life Skills with Independence Bank, Boy Scouts, Photography Scavenger Hunt and Cooking with Tina Tweeten.

• Montana Actors Theatre

• Farm to Table – Jody and Crystal Manuel

• Team Building Challenge

• Community Clean-Up

• Hill County 4-H

• Bob's Greenhouse and FFA

The kids start arriving at 7:45am. They are offered a nutritious breakfast and lot of games. A Bible lesson is given at 8:30am and then the kids are divided up in groups and they partake in the activities that are offered for the day. In the late morning a healthy lunch is offered before a bus from Havre Public Schools picks up the kids destined for the Havre Boys and Girls Club in the afternoon.

Fridays at FACC is well staffed with caring adults who want to be the "hands and feet of Jesus."

Now, let me introduce you to Elizabeth Lindbom, Director of Volunteer Services at NMHC. During the summer 0f 2023 "Lizzy" lead a wonderful group of Volunteens. Volunteens are young people 13 years or older. Lizzy saw the joy that having these young people involved brought to the residents at the Care Center. And she thought "How can I reach out to the younger generation so the joy that comes in volunteering isn't lost?"

Lizzy knows this personally. Her mother was a nurse when Lizzy was growing up and she spent time in the nursing home helping the residents. She has many fond memories of the happiness that it brought the residents. And with this in mind, "Introduction to Volunteering" was created.

The objectives are:

• Intergenerational Volunteering.

• Exposure to healthcare professions.

• Reinstalling manners and generosity.

• Learning how to deal with elder smell, talk, questions, shakiness (helping with crafts), inability to read and getting real-life instructions from lives well lived.

The morning begins with at 8 a.m. with six regulars. Over the school year the number of Care Center residents has exploded from two to 14. As they experience working with the children, the residents feel the warmth of helping and working with a youngster. The residents feel valued and self-esteem grows within the students and the residents. Relationships are made and lives are changed.

Besides learning the elements of volunteering, the kids and residents make a variety of crafts each week, usually to go along with the seasons and holidays. Recently they made suncatchers out of coffee filters, markers and popsicles. The residents took theirs back to their room and enjoyed putting them in their windows.

In February, the young people and residents made enough valentines so every resident could have one.

Craft supplies are often donated by staff and members of the Volunteer Auxiliary. They also offer ideas for future crafts. For instance, DeAnna Berg donated pinecones that were made into Christmas trees.

A graduation ceremony for the "Introduction to Volunteering" participants will be held at 9 a.m. Friday, May 24, in the Northen Montana Care Center Ponderosa dining room. Parents, families and friends are encouraged to come support these awesome young people.

Heroes? Absolutely! But Mandy and Lizzy would be the first to acknowledge that it isn't just them. It's all the volunteers and organizations that go into making these two events possible. Hats off to all those who have stepped up and met this need. It is also very much the youngsters who participate in these programs.

"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me."

Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

Jesus replied,, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'" Matthew 28: 35-40

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Ila McClenahan is a retired chaplain and activity director. She lives on the farm where she was raised in the Amos Community north of Havre. She spends her time volunteering, speaking at various events and trying to be a good wife, mother and grandmother.