Calvary Salutes Soldiers And Community Service

A long line of people snaked across the front of Calvary Church of Pacific Palisades Tuesday evening, waiting for dinner from an In-N-Out Burger truck. They were gathered prior to celebrating the start of a school-wide community service campaign and the school’s Soldiers’ Angels project. When the lights inside the church dimmed at 6:15 p.m., the 42nd Highlanders Band, playing drums and bagpipes, entered the sanctuary, followed by military veterans and Boy Scouts from Troop 223 with their leaders. Teresa Roberson, Head of School for Calvary Christian, opened the ceremony with a prayer and prepared remarks on the importance of community service to personal and spiritual development. ‘We are blessed, and we want to share our blessings with others through our service projects,’ she said. ‘Calvary Christian students are ready to take action!’ After the trio of Amber Johnson, Tara Morrow and Jennifer Price sang ‘God Bless America,’ Chris Rutz, the Assistant Head of School, introduced Kelly Holscher and Annie Barnes, the community service co-chairs at Calvary Christian School. They presented a slide show, coupled with inspirational music, that described each aspect of the school’s community service initiative. ‘What we do and what we say can impact lives forever,’ Barnes said. The Calvary kindergarteners will work with Samaritans Purse International Relief Mission–Operation Christmas Child. The first and second grades will work in elderly care with the Palm Court Retirement Center. The third and fourth grades will help out the Union Rescue Mission, while the fifth and sixth grades will assist at World Impact’s Los Angeles Christian School. Seventh and eighth graders will work with the Casa Hogar Sion Orphanage in Tijuana. But the major school-wide initiative, the centerpiece of the evening, was the Soldiers’ Angels program, whose motto is: ‘Let no soldier go unloved.’ Patti Patton-Bader explained how she created Soldiers’ Angels after her own son was deployed to Iraq, and she realized that soldiers there were short on supplies and love. Her organization creates care packages, mails backpacks with fresh clothing and Blankets of Love, sends letters of encouragement, publishes a newsletter, and more. Calvary students will provide their help to her now large-scale enterprise, which has mailed more than 250,000 care packages to soldiers in Iraq. When Patton-Bader completed her talk, Roberson thanked leaders in attendance, and read out the names of relatives of Calvary families that are currently serving in the military. She then introduced the Calvary Christian School choir, led by Jennifer Price, which sang ‘There Will Come a Day.’ Finally, everyone stood for the Retiring of the Colors, as the flags were put away, and Teresa Roberson closed the evening. ‘It is better to give than to receive,’ she said, before ending with a prayer.