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The Vestavia Hills High School (VHHS) One Birmingham Service Club focuses on doing small things with great love. In 2004, the club was founded to raise $25,000 annually towards funding housing construction in Jefferson County. Over the past fifteen years, the club has done an incredible job of funding and building numerous homes throughout the city. Recently, the leadership team met to reevaluate the club’s mission. Focused on a desire to maximize impact on the community of Birmingham, the group decided to adopt a new mission, vision, and name: the One Birmingham Service Club. The club has reemphasized its focus on wisely stewarding resources to pursue oneness and advance the gospel in Birmingham. The club intends to do this by supporting the CSM construction team, volunteering on our campus, and supporting our partners!

This month, the club visited the historic Bethel Baptist Church to hear a presentation from Pastor Thomas Wilder on the Civil Rights movement and the reconciliation that still needs to take place in Birmingham. Additionally, the One Birmingham Service Club raised $10,000 and generously presented Bethel with this funding, which will be directed towards housing repairs in Collegeville and the community surrounding Bethel. Groups of Vestavia Hills students in this club have also been volunteering in the CSM warehouse by sorting through donations from our corporate partners and learning about our focus of encouraging unity with the Church body.

The club has a heartfelt focus on intentionally investing in the community of Birmingham through building lasting relationships. Ultimately, the goal is for service to be the foundation of these relationships. By creating lasting changes through connecting resources to those who need them, the club can follow the Lord’s command to “Love your neighbor.” Furthermore, the name of the One Birmingham Service Club emphasizes the goal of promoting reconciliation within the broken areas of our community through service. The club hopes to cultivate an appreciation for diverse beliefs, cultures, and convictions in pursuing this goal.

1 Timothy 2:12 states, “Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and purity.” The One Birmingham Service Club is doing just as this verse describes. The desire that the leaders and participants of this club have to obey the Lord and display His love is an excellent example of what it looks like to be a disciple of Christ. It is an encouragement to see the youth of Birmingham act with such boldness in pursuit of both justice and righteousness. We have greatly enjoyed having students in the club come to serve in our warehouse this year, and we look forward to the future of our partnership with the One Birmingham Service Club!