Pathfinders at Oshkosh Camporee Fill 5,000 Golden Buckets

*Story by Tamara Michalenko Terry / photos by Randy Terry

“During a disaster, five-gallon buckets filled with much-needed cleaning supplies are like gold to someone who just survived a natural disaster,” shares Marshall Gonzales, Southwestern Union Conference and Texas Conference Adventist Community Services (ACS) director. “When a disaster strikes, we distribute the filled buckets, what we call clean-up buckets, by the thousands, so it is imperative to have clean-up buckets on hand.

Supplies to fill 5,000 buckets were delivered to the 2019 International Pathfinder Camporee ACS station in Oshkosh, Wisc. They include household cleaners; dishwashing soap; scrubber sponges; scrub brushes; cleaning towels; dust masks; kitchen, disposable and work gloves; trash bags; laundry detergent; paper towels; disinfectant wipes; a clothesline; clothespins; and insect repellant spray.

During the camporee, Pathfinders had the opportunity to fill those buckets and earn the “Serving Communities” Pathfinder honor at the same time. “The Pathfinder clubshave been amazing,” shares Julie Gonzales, Southwestern Union and Texas Conference ACS associate director. “Many, knowing our deadline, have come back repeatedly. The Alvarado Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church Pathfinder club from Alvarado, Texas, spent three hours filling buckets.”

“We really appreciate the Pathfinder support for this great endeavor, as well as the ACS volunteers here from Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Texas and Washington,” states Sung Kwon, North American Division ACS executive director. “We could not achieve this goal without everyone’s generosity.”

The Arkansas-Louisiana, Iowa-Missouri and Greater New York conferences of the Seventh-day Adventist Church will take the clean-up buckets back home with them to have on hand to distribute when needed. “These conferences have gone through disaster situations—they will really appreciate these clean-up buckets the Pathfinders are filling,” Kwon adds.

* This article was first published on nadadventist.org.