CARE-A-VANERS AT LODI UMC

In March, the Care-A-Vaners traveled in their RVs to the Salem UMC in Lodi to improve the church facilities. Fortunately all our work was indoors, as it rained every day. Gene and Elaine Hill, Dave and Susan Sargent and Marv and Ina Tanner were among the fifteen volunteers from six conference churches. The Care-A-Vaners work as a team and we usually accomplish a lot more than is expected. Lodi was no exception. We worked in two main areas; the education building and the recreation room beneath the sanctuary. As is characteristic with the Care-A-Vaners, we painted all week. We painted four classrooms, two with bathrooms, the long hallway and two bathrooms in the education building, and two bathrooms in the recreation room. We were able to use paint and painting supplies provided by Dick and Bertie Meehan and Fran Sneed.

We did a major improvement in the recreation room lighting by replacing the eight incandescent light fixtures, many with 300 watt bulbs, with fluorescent light fixtures. The plumbing repair jobs included fixing four leaking toilet flush valves and installing a new toilet in one of the bathrooms.

Can you believe we found a pipe fitting screwed onto plain copper tubing? Also the recreation room kitchen sink drain plumbing was replaced. Four wooden-framed screens for the recreation room were repaired and painted and some cabinet and wall repair was done.

The Salem church has a vibrant and friendly Latino congregation. We were especially blessed by socializing with members of the congregation and their young children. Pastor Lila Ochoa was with us every day. Women of the church graciously fed us delicious 'native meals' for lunch. Some men of the church tackled the job of painting a 14 foot high ceiling, relieving us of that difficult job. Love abounded as we received hugs when our work was completed.

In this photo is Gene Hill with Pastor Lila.

With the heavy rainfall, there was a problem of water leaking into the sanctuary. Salem UMC is a low income church, and it is in dire need of a new roof. Perhaps someone in our congregation knows a person with either materials or labor that would be able to help this church.

The Care-A-Vaners next project will be to the UMCOR West Depot in Salt Lake City. We will work in the depot one week and work another week at the Centenary UMC where we will be parking our RVs. The Hills and Tanners will be taking the UMCOR kits and supplies collected at our church (See related article in the April 2011 Campbell Connections).

Marvin and Ina Tanner