Murrysville church to help clean up Jeannette this weekend with 600 volunteers

Weed whackers and hundreds of willing hands are going to work in Jeannette this weekend.

Cornerstone Ministries Church in Murrysville is sending 600 members to help the city and its residents clean up abandoned properties, do repair work and complete interior projects.

“We just want to get out and share the love of Christ in a practical way,” said Tom Payne, church director of operations. “For us, it’s an opportunity to serve.”

The church will embark on its annual “Uncommon” community service project Saturday and Sunday throughout the city. Pastor Donn S. Chapman described the weekend as a “signature event for our ministry.”

“We purpose to make a little difference in the lives of some folks who might need a helping hand, and we seek to leave a fresh dose of hope for many more,” he said.

The blitz will focus on clearing brush and weeds, picking up trash and helping residents with projects, such as fixing a fence, installing windows and repairing a walkway, Payne said. The weekend will culminate with a cookout and celebration open to the community from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday in the Elliott Group Amphitheater on Clay Avenue. Backpacks and food will be handed out.

About 30 area middle schoolers involved with the church’s youth group helped spruce up West Jeannette last summer after their mission trip was canceled. Church officials saw an opportunity to continue that work.

“We thought maybe we can make a bigger impact with a larger group,” Payne said.

Members will work at about 50 job sites, some of which will benefit the city. Fire Chief Bill Frye said he provided locations of abandoned properties that are overgrown or have become a dumping ground for trash.

A few of those are on Gaskill Avenue in the area of North Sixth Street. Three abandoned homes and an abandoned church have overgrown weeds and brush covering the buildings and sidewalks. Frye said the city appreciates the group’s continued efforts to complete tasks that would otherwise go unfinished.

“There’s obviously a lot of abandoned, vacant, dilapidated, blighted properties that the city doesn’t have the people, the money or the manpower to clean up,” he said.