Frequently Asked Questions
Love Mason Plus is from April 21 – 27, 2024. The various serving options are available each day of the week (Sun. afternoon – 1-4PM, weekdays as noted, Sat. morning- 9AM-12PM, and Sat. afternoon – 1PM-4PM). Serve from Home options can be completed during the week of Love Mason Plus.
During the year, our Hope family serves in many ways throughout our community and beyond. During Love Mason Plus, we make a concerted effort to engage our Hope Church community to participate in serving opportunities in Mason and the surrounding area. We will be worshipping God together as we serve. Love Mason Plus is a practical way to help us move from living inwardly-focused lives to outwardly-focused, joining Jesus on mission where we live, work, and play. We do this by helping meet tangible needs, connecting with our neighbors, and showing them the love of Jesus through our actions.
There’s something for everyone. The Love Mason Plus team works to provide family-friendly, hands-on, service projects including light landscaping, minor home repairs for fixed-income seniors, and honoring our police, fire departments, and first responders. We’re also providing opportunities to support and encourage several ministries and organizations from the comfort of your home with Serve From Home options.
Signups will begin March 3 for our entire Hope family via Church Center and will continue through March 17 for in-person serving options as spots remain. Serve from Home options will remain available until April 27 as spots remain. We encourage you to sign up early for the best availability of your desired serving options.
After I’ve registered what happens? For in-person serving options, after registration closes, you will receive an email from the project captain (near the beginning of April). They will share details on when to meet for your serving option, where to park, and if there are any items you need to bring. If you register for Serve from Home options, generous donors have provided the base items to get you started. Pickup for the following items will happen on Sunday, April 14, and on Sunday, April 21 outside the Hope main entrance between 9:00am-12:00pm:
- Backpacks – for you to fill
- Gratitude bags – for you to fill
- Foster Parent Blessing bags – for you to fill
- Fleece Blanket Kits – for you to complete
- Senior Living Resident Blessing Bags – for you to fill
- Notecard kits – for you to complete
If you have not heard from your project captain by April 3, please email Laura at ldavies@hopemason.org
It depends. Each serving opportunity description lists the ages of those who can serve at any given site. The age requirements are from the organization and we need to honor those requests. We have attempted to provide a variety of serving opportunities throughout the week so that all families can participate in some way. Please review all serving descriptions for family-friendly options that will work for your family. You know your children best. Kids can make a great addition to the serving team, provided the serving opportunities match their maturity and skills. There is no childcare for the week, and everyone is invited to serve with their families however they choose.
YES PLEASE! Because options are offered on multiple days, we are encouraging every person who calls Hope home to sign up for at least one opportunity, and if you choose, more than one.
Great question! We need information about each person who participates (name, phone, email, student age, etc.). Each person needs to register individually online, but if you have a group that wants to all serve together please email Laura – ldavies@hopemason.org so we can work with you on signing up your group. Since all serving options are first-come, first-serve, we encourage you to sign up early for the best availability of your desired options.
Each serving option is led by a project captain. The project captain acts as a liaison between the organization and volunteers. The project captain communicates with volunteers mainly via email with specific details of the serving option – ex. date, time, items to bring, etc. A Project Captain manual is available, and sample emails are shared by the Planning Team before you’re asked to communicate with the volunteers for the serving option. We will have a meeting with all project captains as we get closer to Love Mason Plus. If you would like more information about serving as a Project Captain, email Pastor Gary Angstadt at gangstadt@hopemason.org.
Unfortunately, once a serving opportunity is full, we are not able to accommodate any more volunteers for that option. We suggest signing up for a different serving opportunity that strikes you as interesting and take the time to get to know some new friendly faces! If something changes after you sign up, we can take you off the opportunity you have currently signed up for and direct you towards an opportunity that still needs to be filled.
Anyone is welcome! We encourage you to invite neighbors, friends, and co-workers to join you in these serving opportunities. For an accurate count, please make sure they register as part of the signups online before March 17 as well.
If you are no longer able to serve, please cancel your online registration to allow a spot for others to serve. The various organizations we are working with are looking for all the volunteers we can provide to complete the work they have scheduled for that day. If you can serve on a different available option, e.g., afternoon instead of morning, please review the serving options that are still available and sign up where you can. Send an email to Laura at ldavies@hopemason.org if you need help with this.
In case of a family emergency or illness, please contact your project captain ASAP by phone or text to let them know if you are unable to make it.
First – please pray for no rain for the week of Love Mason Plus! Our desire is to complete every serving option that we can. If there is heavy rain or bad weather expected, you will hear from your project captain about the revised plans for that serving option.
Because many of the volunteer shifts are between 9:00am–12:00pm or 1:00–4:00pm, we encourage you to eat before or after your shift. Lunch is not provided.
It depends on the site. Your project captain will let you know if any tools or supplies will be needed for your serving opportunity.
Please let your project captain know if you sign up for an in-person project and think transportation will be an issue. He or she will help you troubleshoot how to get to the site and back. For some locations, meeting at Hope and carpooling to the location may be encouraged if minimal parking is available
A Love Mason Plus planning team started meeting in the fall of 2018, after researching a similar serving day called “Love Madison” held by Blackhawk Church in Madison, Wisconsin. The first Love Mason Plus was held in April, 2019, with 10 serving options. With larger goals in mind for the next year, Love Mason Plus signups took place at the beginning of 2020, but the April Love Mason Plus was cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. Love Mason Plus returned in 2021 with a mixture of 31 in-person and from home serving options, completed by more than 340 volunteers. In 2023, we begin Love Mason Plus week, held from Sunday, April 23 – Saturday, April 29 with close to 50 serving options available. Love Mason Plus week continues in 2024, from Sunday, April 21 – Saturday, April 27 with close to 40 serving options.
To learn more about the Love Mason Plus Planning Team, which meets monthly from October to April each year, contact Pastor Gary Angstadt at gangstadt@hopemason.org.