Article written by Tom Markland and published in The Journal on June 3, 2026, link to article HERE.
More than 200 volunteers from New Life Community Church spent two days transforming Mill Creek Intermediate School, completing dozens of improvement projects designed to benefit students and staff before the start of the next school year.
The annual service initiative, now in its 11th year, brought church members, local businesses and school staff together Friday and Saturday to tackle nearly 80 projects across the school campus.
By the end of the weekend, volunteers had painted roughly half of the building, renovated the teachers’ lounge, refreshed landscaping, improved the playground, restored the school’s memorial garden and installed a new gazebo that will provide outdoor learning space for students.
“Basically, the whole school got a facelift,” said Pastor Ryan Parsons of New Life Community Church.
The work began immediately after the school year ended, allowing some teachers to participate in planning and even help with projects. Parsons said volunteers completed a significant amount of work on Friday, making Saturday’s efforts more manageable.
Among the largest tasks were painting classrooms and common areas, dusting high ceilings and fixtures throughout the building, spreading mulch, trimming tree limbs and making improvements to outdoor spaces.
For April Cecil, a physical education teacher at Mill Creek and a member of New Life Community Church, says her fellow teachers are excited to see the results when they return in the fall.
“Every teacher that left yesterday was excited to see what's going to happen when they come back in August,” Cecil said.
Cecil said the renovated teachers’ lounge could have one of the biggest impacts on faculty members.
“We've never really had an area where we can just come together, sit and eat lunch and enjoy ourselves,” she said. “It's kind of always been like a work room plus a chair. So it's really exciting to see that change.”
Students will also benefit from several upgrades, she said, particularly the new gazebo and improvements to the playground.
“They now are going to have an opportunity to have a place outside where they can go with their classroom,” Cecil said. “The playground is going to be huge too.”
Parsons said the project reflects New Life Community Church’s commitment to serving the broader community through practical acts of service. Just last year, they gave the same kind of facelift to Hedgesville Middle School.
“We care about our community, and we want them to see that we care,” Parsons said. “We love them, and if there's ever an opportunity that we can buy the opportunity to speak into their lives, that's what we're going to do.”
The effort also received support from several local businesses, including Pilot Painting, Sloan Acres Custom Paving, Top Gun Seal Coating and Lowe’s, which donated materials and services to help complete the work.
Parsons said the church will work with Berkeley County Schools in the coming months to identify the next campus that could benefit from a similar community-wide cleanup effort next year.