Church Gives Back After Stolen Trailer Results In Surplus
By Jeff Todd
COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (CBS4)- A church in Commerce City is giving back to the community after it received an outpouring of support.
"We challenged our youth group, 'Hey, how about for 30 days we do something for somebody else?'" said Aaron Cordova, the youth pastor at Landing Place Church.
That challenge came after the church became a victim of a crime. In October, a thief stole a trailer from the church. It has never been recovered.
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"It was about $25,000 worth of equipment that was stolen with our trailer. It was unfortunate and disappointing but we said we're not going to let that hold us back."
Landing Place Church received donations, insurance money, and more to wind up with a surplus. The church then challenged the youth group to find four good deeds they could do for others.
"We found a school in Commerce City that we heard has a lot of kids who have needs. So we said 'Let's do Christmas, every kid there gets a present.'"
"Helping out the community, helping out the people of Commerce City," said Mitchel Adamson, a member of the Landing Place Church youth group. "Everybody kind of said, 'Okay, this sound great! Let's do it.'"
On Wednesday, Landing Place Church took over Kemp Elementary School.
Three Santas and 62 other volunteers went to all 23 classrooms and handed students a blanket and an age-appropriate game. Much to the delight of the students.
"It makes me feel thankful for what I've got," said Adamson.
"When things don't go right you have a choice," Cordova said. "We're going to keep doing what we do and so it's encouraging these kids the right lesson. Keep doing what's right and it'll work out."
Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.