River City Church / #LoveServeVolunteer

A Holiday Party for immigrant families, with a free toy shop and “reindeer” alpaca snuggles. Birthday Celebration Kit assembly for over 900 students experiencing houselessness or foster care in the Vancouver School District. A Community Baby Shower where 50+ pregnant moms received large baby items, diapers, clothing, and more. 

That’s just a few of the Sunday “church services” River City Church has held in the past year. We “cancel” our worship gathering on the 2nd Sunday of each month to serve the community instead! Our amazing volunteers have served over 43,000 hours - that’s more hours than River City Church has even existed.

River City Church is along the Fourth Plain Corridor, in a historically under-resourced neighborhood overflowing with culture and diversity. Lots of people who aren’t “church people” volunteer at our Serve Days, and our goal is to create an environment where people from various backgrounds can find belonging and purpose while making a difference. Jesus said that people would recognize His followers by how well they love -  we pray that these Serve Days would reflect the love we have for our community! 

In such a diverse neighborhood, River City has had many other unique opportunities for people to serve. During January’s Ice Storm, we opened our building as a Warming Shelter - and remained open for 9 days and nights straight. We had 300+ houseless people find shelter here - including young children. You rallied around us to cook thousands of meals, collect blankets and clothing, and even provide medical care. 

We only have 2 full time staff and few resources, but we will always say “yes” to needs whenever possible - thanks to countless volunteers who jump in with both feet to serve! As one River City volunteer put it, serving others is “putting legs on your faith.” And we are so grateful for volunteers who walk with us to meet these needs! THANK YOU for helping make Vancouver a better place and giving our neighbors more opportunities for a brighter future. 

There is always a family friendly volunteer opportunity coming up at River City Church - and we are always looking for more people and organizations to partner with! 

Get involved:

-Give directly on our GiveBig 2024 page to support our Serve Days!

-Visit https://rivercityvancouver.com/givebig to see what’s coming up + sign up for email updates

Help us serve under-resourced families in our neighborhood. Every penny (and volunteer hour) will make a lasting impact!