Beach Kiwanis fund Chapel Bible School
Close to 200 people attended the closing ceremony of the Chapel by the Sea Vacation Bible School on Friday evening in the chapel’s Silver Hall. A record-setting 67 children from all religious denominations were registered for the weeklong event, including 58 kids on one particular day.
The topic of the Chapel Vacation Bible School was “PandaMania, where God is wild about you.”
After the attending children sang hymns, the Beach Kiwanis, who were the main sponsor of the Bible school, presented the program with a check for $1,500. The Kiwanis organization was noted as distributing close to $100,000 annually back into the community.
Special thanks also went to Lin’s Garden, who was the dinner sponsor for the Bible school. The Lin family donated Chinese food for all involved at the closing ceremony.
Chapel Vacation Bible School got off to a strong start by hosting 95 students and volunteers on the event’s first day.
“This was an incredible week that we had. The kids had a great time. They’ve been learning, studying, working on crafts, reading Bible stories and memorizing Scripture,” said Chapel Pastor Maynard Pittendreigh, who was known as Pastor PandaMania throughout the program.
Event organizer Melody Tibbs rehashed a memory list of what the children learned during the week, including statements like “God made you, God listens to you, God watches over you, God loves you no matter what and that God gives us good gifts.”
The children were assembled into four groups during the Bible school: Panda Pals for pre-schoolers and under; Flaming Tigers for kindergarteners and first grade; Ninja Monkeys for second and third graders; and Purple Panda Ninjas for fourth-graders and up.
“Thank you to all the volunteers,” said Tibbs, whose husband Eric –a member of the Beach Kiwanis– presented the check.
She also called the other Kiwanis in attendance up on stage to thank them for their generous donation to fund the program.
“Without them, we could not have Bible school,” she said. “Kiwanis has had some part of just about any program that involves kids.”