Starke County’s Issues to be Borne Away on a Cross Carried by Volunteers This Weekend

  
 
With a variety of problems plaguing the Starke County community, one group of individuals is making an effort to show the community that they care. The event, which has been dubbed “Take Up Our Community’s Cross,” was coordinated by Jerry Bacon, who will be helping to carry a large cross inscribed with different problems plaguing the community from Knox to North Judson.

“We just want to bring awareness to our community, things going on in our community. I’m calling this ‘Take Up Our Community’s Cross.’ Different things we hear about; meth, we hear about different problems going on – unemployment, depression – just all kinds of things, and this is just an act of love to show people that we care,” Bacon explained.

Bacon said he hopes this event will bring the community together to pray for solutions to needs and struggles that have stricken the community, such as poverty, illiteracy, meth and other drug abuse, crime, and a variety of other issues. Bacon said the cross will be carried on foot from Knox to North Judson on foot, but he’s not going to be making the trek alone.

“We’re going to take a cross from the Knox courthouse all the way to North Judson. It’s 13.7 miles; we’re going to be taking turns – I’m not taking the whole cross, but we’re going to take turns. We want to do this to bring awareness. We’re going to end up at Norwayne Field in North Judson, we’re going to have a little prayer service there to show people that they’re not by themselves out there,” Bacon explained.

The event kicks off March 30 at 8 a.m., and Bacon said a shuttle bus will be available at the North Judson Community Center, where volunteers can be taken to the route of the cross before bringing them back at the end of their shift. Soup, chili, and other refreshments will be offered at the community center for everyone involved.

This is the first event of its kind in Starke County, and Bacon is urging everyone to get involved.

“I just want to encourage everybody and thank everybody, and the one saying I wrote down here is, ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,’ and we have a lot of fantastic people in our community, and this is just a chance to shine,” Bacon explained.

For more information, contact Bacon at (574) 806-2440.