Once a year, the Hawkeye community comes together for a Hawkeye Fun Days parade. The parade always occurs on a Sabbath and the route happens to pass by the Hawkeye Church during the worship hour before ending in a nearby park where fun activities continue throughout the day. As you might imagine, the sounds sirens, bands, honking and cheering made worship difficult—and prayer more so.

Rather than working around it or trying to get the city to change the route, the church decided to use the parade as an opportunity to serve the community. The church’s youth now spend that morning each year handing out water.

The heat can be brutal, and people seem to really appreciate receiving a free bottle of cold water. Each bottle’s label contains the church’s name and an invitation to tune into our radio station, KRJE 89.9 FM.