SHAWNEE, Kan. — Teachers and students arrived at Blue Valley Middle School as early as 9 a.m. on Monday, not for summer school but to move desks and chairs. They working together to fill their own school with new-to-them furniture.
Mark Schultze, the superintendent of Maranatha Christian Academy said, “We usually go to school auctions trying to find it. This has been an extreme blessing for us.”
Schultze was in dire need of new furniture for his school in Shawnee. When the Blue Valley school district was getting rid of nearly 6,000 desks, chairs, and cabinets, his prayers were heard.
“Some of the tables were literally falling apart by the end of the school year,” he said.
It’s an opportunity administered through “My Father’s House,” a furnishings ministry at the Church of the Resurrection. The organization usually helps families in need.
“They show up needing furniture, they have nothing. They’ve maybe been sleeping on the floor and we try to make a difference in their lives,” said Dave Sjoberg, a volunteer.
It’s not just limited to families. Furniture for schools is also collected and redistributed. Besides Maranatha, some of what you see hear will be boxed and delivered to schools in Haiti.
Ministry leader Kevin Jones said, “Tables, desks, various combinations of desks. Various sizes of chairs, and sciences tables and just all kinds of things.”
About 100 hundred volunteers showed up to help organize and load the trucks. For Schultze, the fixtures will be a nice change from what they are used to.
“Most of it is probably a decade old and some of it even older than that so this is going to be a real upgrade for us,” Schultze said.
The ministry will be collecting furniture from Blue Valley schools over the next two weeks.
