Supporting the community: Bethel students help move New Hope Shelter to its new location
On Jan. 27, campus pastor Michael Unruh led various Bethel students in helping to move New Hope Shelter to its new location in Newton.
If you were to walk onto the Bethel College campus on a typical Saturday morning, you wouldn’t see much. Empty sidewalks and vacant buildings would likely greet you as students slept in, trying to recover from busy weeks and late nights. On the morning of Jan. 27, though, an observer would have seen significantly more activity, as a crowd of 40 Bethel students left campus headed to the New Hope Shelter.
New Hope is a nonprofit organization funded by local businesses, churches, and individuals, which aims to “provide a sanctuary for those experiencing homelessness in Harvey, Marion, Butler, and McPherson Counties by uniting the local church into a nurturing community which restores hope through a growing relationship with Christ,” according to their mission statement.
On Jan. 27, New Hope went through a big change, moving into a brand new building located at 308 S Meridian in Newton. The 40 Bethel students, accompanied by Bethel’s campus pastor, Michael Unruh, arrived at the old location that morning to help move everything from the former building to the new one.
Unruh played a major role in getting such a large group of students to volunteer their time. Along with the “intrinsic value that serving others has,” he said, offering students Convocation credit for helping add to the allure of volunteer work on a Saturday morning.
A.B. Stokes, head football coach at Bethel, also played a large part in convincing students to help out. Of the 40 at New Hope, many were members of the Bethel football team, having been encouraged by Stokes to assist with the move.
Senior Noah Miller, from Palm Creek, Okla. was one of those football players. “I went because [Stokes] suggested … but once I got there I really didn’t even think about being there because of football,” he said. “I was so caught up in moving stuff… I never thought ‘Hey, I could have left an hour and a half ago.’”
Although the Bethel contingent was only a part of the group helping move, they had an important role to play. As young college students, “their help made a huge difference,” Unruh said. Miller felt similarly, sharing, “I was the main one moving the heavy stuff. … Every time [other volunteers] saw me, you know, take a fridge downstairs and come back up, they’d be like, ‘we’re glad you’re here.’”
Although football players were well represented at New Hope, they weren’t the only Bethel students there. Grace Dawes, a sophomore from Hesston, also spent the morning helping. “Me and my friend Patty emptied … and boxed up the entire kitchen,” she said.
While other students were motivated by their coaches or by Unruh, Dawes was drawn to help by a few factors. For her, she explained, volunteering was a win-win. “I like helping in the community … and I’m pre-med, so volunteering looks good on a resume.”
Although the work may not have been fun, the students came away from it having had a good experience. For them, it seemed that the day had emphasized the dedication of the Newton community to helping others. After hours of moving furniture and appliances, Miller reflected, “Being a witness to what the community can do for one another … it was cool just to be a part of.”
“Being a witness to what the community can do for one another … it was cool just to be a part of.”
Noah Miller
Dawes, too, shared about the positives of her time at New Hope, saying, “There’s a lot of support. You could tell that people really cared about this new shelter, and put in a lot of effort to help make sure it was nice.” Although the move was a one-time event, Dawes plans to return to the shelter in the future. “I actually just have applied to be a volunteer there to hopefully start working regularly,” she said.
Unruh was proud, he said, of how Bethel showed up to support its community. “It was exciting to see in my role as a staff person that you had a bunch of students out there on a Saturday morning … having a good time, caring about the people, and working hard. It was overall very positive for me to see from our Bethel community.”
“It was exciting to see in my role as a staff person that you had a bunch of students out there on a Saturday morning … having a good time, caring about the people, and working hard. It was overall very positive for me to see from our Bethel community.”
Michael Unruh
The Bethel students who helped were shown in a KSN feature. If you’re interested in volunteering with New Hope Shelter, you can sign up on their website.