Huntington-area churches join forces for Project Presbyterian community eneavors

Residents in two Wayne County senior citizen housing units will receive special “We’re thinking of you” greetings this holiday season, thanks to a joint project of Huntington-area PWV churches and Golden Girl, a group home for young women ages 12 to 21 in Ceredo. 

This month, Golden Girl residents are creating hand-colored greetings, which will be delivered to Ceredo Manor and Roxanna Booth Manor for distribution to seniors, many of whom are alone and isolated during these “pandemic holidays.” At the same time, Golden Girl residents are getting hands-on involvement in giving back to someone else, something many of them have never experienced.

“This is truly a win-win for everyone involved,” said Nikki Thomas, development director at Golden Girl. “We are grateful the girls can have this opportunity, thanks to our Presbyterian friends, and we are happy they can help bring some joy to others who need some at this time.”

Dubbed “Project Presbyterian,” the joint church effort is the brainchild of the Rev. Skip Seibel, former pastor, now retired, of Huntington First Presbyterian Church. The goal was to bring Huntington churches together for a joint project that would benefit the community and help Presbyterians meet and work with others from outside their own congregation. So far, representatives from eight area churches – Enslow Park, Highlawn, Huntington First Presbyterian, Huntington Second Presbyterian, Kenova First, Milton, Rome, and Spring Valley – have participated, as well as Marshall University’s campus Presbyterian ministry, UKIRK.

One of the group’s first projects was a post-holiday pizza party for Golden Girl residents last January, before the virus hit. From that, members learned more about the needs of the group home’s residents, and it was quickly decided to try to do more with the girls. Then things went on hold during the early months of the pandemic. When the group got together recently for a planning session, “It was a natural jump to think about involving the girls in an outreach effort aimed at brightening the day for seniors in the housing units,” said Skip Gebhart of Huntington First Presbyterian, chair of the task group.

Project Presbyterian members and Golden Girl staff developed a plan to have the girls create personalized greetings with a Christian theme. Project Presbyterian provided cards, envelopes, and colored pencils. Golden Girl residents created about 140 cards.

Enslow Park Commissioned Pastor John Yeager said, “This is a ‘good news’ story, what with the Golden Girls learning to give to others. This is something others can duplicate easily!”

Golden Girl Group Home serves 24 girls from ages 12 to 21, specializing in working with dependent, neglected and pre-delinquent girls who are not able to make a successful adjustment in their natural homes or foster care homes.

Project Presbyterian began in April 2019, when some 20 elders from area churches gathered to share ideas and thoughts. An initial result was that some of the smaller churches joined with bigger ones to make sure that children could attend a Vacation Bible School even if their home church could not present one. Last fall, Project Presbyterian hosted an afternoon dessert and coffee gathering for all Session members in the area, so they could learn more about the activities and report back to their own groups.

In January, the project hosted a pizza party at Enslow Park for the Golden Girl residents. Project volunteers teamed up with the girls to share an afternoon of pizza, conversation, and games. In February, Project Presbyterian participated in the Presbytery’s Intergenerational Day of Service by holding a work party at Rome Presbyterian in Proctorville, Ohio, cleaning and making minor repairs.