This big light of mine

Special Issue | California program changes those who serve as well as those they serve | Alisa Harris

Pedro Menjivar poses with the Character Club.

LIGHTHOUSE COMMUNITY CENTER

Whenever his huge Mariners Church sent out missionaries, environmental consultant Will Gaston joined the rest of the congregation in praying for them—but he was always glad not to be one of them. He volunteered sometimes, sure, but it was what he calls "dabbling volunteering." Yet today, he dedicates his time to children on Minnie Street in Santa Ana, Calif., where gangs sometimes use fourth-graders to keep watch for police and rival gang members.

Why the change? Mariners Church's Lighthouse Community Center (LCC) unites Minnie Street with affluent Orange County areas as it equips volunteers and community leaders to meet the needs of Minnie Street residents. Fifty programs offer help for unwed moms, tutoring for children, scholarships for the college-bound, English classes for adults, and citizenship classes for immigrants. During the past year almost 700 volunteers and leaders helped 1,000 Minnie Street residents.

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September 01, 2007, Vol. 22, No. 32

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