A team of more than 200 volunteers backed up Pastor Billy Heather’s words on the weekend of July 12, as Fredonia’s Gospel Church had a strong turnout for Serve Day 2025, a day of giving back to the community.

A crowd gathered Saturday at the church, located at 45 Lakeview Ave, Fredonia at 8:30 a.m. to kick off the day. Volunteers participated in more than a dozen activities and projects throughout the region. The activities were all aimed at connecting with the community to share the message on the back of the shirts of the volunteers: You are loved.

“When we started the church four years ago, one of our main goals was to get into the community to help,” Heather said. “I’m a firm believer that we’re going to help people that will never walk in our church. That’s how you share God’s love. You don’t have to get them to come to you, sometimes you’ve just got to find out what the need is.”

The volunteers held a food giveaway at the church with approximately 60 bags of groceries given away. A free car wash was also held, as well as a giveaway of approximately $500 worth of free gas to anyone who stopped by.

Members of the Gospel Church are pictured at a beach cleanup in Dunkirk as part of Serve Day 2025.

The volunteers also supported the Office of the Aging by helping local residents with yard work, cleanup, and rebuilding a porch. Two teams of volunteers also visited local nursing homes. They also helped with cleaning up Wright Park, Point Gratiot, and Memorial Park.

A handful of volunteers assisted the Boys & Girls Club with organizing office spaces and program materials as the Club is in the process of moving locations for the upcoming year. The volunteers braved the heat for more than two hours of nonstop work to help support the Club. In return, the Club offered craft supplies for the Gospel Church to utilize to create piggy banks.

“The volunteers worked really, really hard and it was very helpful. We’re always so grateful to those who give back to our community. We’re really fortunate that we had great volunteers come to help us out,” said Jeannie Gallaway, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club.

Gallaway’s daughter, Layla, attended a children’s carnival in Fredonia, where the church partnered with the Fredonia Farmers’ Market to set up games and offer prizes.

“It was such a fun time. The games were really well put together. It was a really unique experience for Layla to be able to do those things without being in a large crowd like at a carnival or county fair,” Gallaway said.

Billy Heather and his wife, Randi, founded the Gospel Church in Fredonia back in 2022. They have participated in Serve Day each year since the church was founded. Serve Day is a national day of service that churches across the country participate in each year on July 12.

“It was great. It was the most we’ve done,” Heather said of this year’s event. “We’ve done it for the past four years on the same day, and it’s really grown every year.”

Some churches hold events twice a year or even each quarter. For the Gospel Church, the event began in 2022 with a small group of 12 volunteers participating. By last summer, the group grew to approximately 120 volunteers. This year, the total nearly doubled with roughly 220 volunteers. Because of such a strong turnout at this year’s event, the Gospel Church hopes to hold another event this coming winter.

“For a small community like Fredonia and Dunkirk, there’s so many people in need and so many people just waiting for someone else to help,” Heather said. “You can help anybody right where they’re at, and it doesn’t have to be that complicated. You don’t need a lot of money to make it happen, you just need a heart that’s willing.”