Cutline (Join Hands Day) – Trinity Lutheran Church members Rena Wynn, Jane Sinclair, Krista Wiedmann, Christina Sover and Tom Perry take a break during the recent Join Hands Day. Photo by Brenda Orach

A less than desirable day of rain didn’t stop several volunteers from coming together in a community project on Saturday, May 7.

It was a good day to stay inside, but several brave souls came out to lend a hand in the collection of trash in several areas of the city. The Public Works Department did a tremendous job in helping to delegate instructions of the areas in need of help. They provided bags, safety vests and hand grabbers. The trash bags came in handy not only for trash but for raingear too.

Director Tom Eldridge arranged for Doug Eaton, Brian Leo and Lloyd McLaughlin to ride around and check on the workers and collect the trash. The areas covered were Beaver Pond, Riverbank Park and Fraser Field. In the other direction, the cleanup covered the falls and the biggest area, the high school parking lot and athletic fields.

Thanks for the success of the program should go to Mission Possible for sending three teens, Justin Sinclair, Jeff Gentry, Jonathan Gilikson; Trinity members Jane Sinclair, Rena Wynn, Krista Wiedmann, Christine Stover, Brenda Orach, Tom Perry and Bill Sherman; City Councilor John O’Hara, wife Judy and children Katie, Molly and John; City Councilor Gary Groves; and local businessman Garrett Lewellen.

All volunteers gathered together for lunch at 11 Bridge St. at the Salvation Army. They graciously provided a warm place to have lunch and served a great meal with pizza and the fixings, hot coffee, drinks and dessert. A friendly crew of workers Linda Gordan, Sheri Riley and captains Melissa and Frank Nataluk made all the volunteers feel at home. They are a great organization making their services available to the city of Westbrook.

Several other organizations in Westbrook also helped in making the project happen. Store manager John Parvin of Hannaford provided some food, paper supplies and the gloves for the volunteers and Mission Possible got the word out and provided workers.

Westbrook Mayor Bruce Chuluda, Tom Eldridge and Melissa Nataluk assisted with the planning. The original idea for the project came from Trinity Lutheran Church in conjunction with Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a fortune 500 Company that helps Lutherans with their financial planning and also gives back to members, congregations and communities. The company’s support helped promote, provide food and supplies and mostly brought together all generations to work “hand in hand” to volunteer to do a service for their community.

The “Joins Hands” project has been an annual event nationwide to spark volunteerism. It is the hope of Trinity Lutheran Church to make this an annual event for the city of Westbrook.

This article was contributed by Brenda Orach, chairman, Trinity Lutheran Social Ministry.