In his first involvement with the Thousand Ten Project as the new pastor of The Alley, Stevie Lockman is asking for help from the community to help those in need.

He hopes to make it the biggest and best Thousand Ten Project yet.

This year is the seventh year for the event, which was started in 2011 by retired Alley pastor Rick Wilson. His idea was to bring together 1,000 people on one day, each with $10 to pool together for a total of $10,000.

That money is then spent to help people who are struggling to meet the everyday challenges of life.

Money is used to purchase groceries, school clothes, buy prescriptions, pay utility bills, fill gas tanks, build wheelchair ramps and whatever tangible needs people may have.

The purpose is not to judge people for the situation they’re in but to show compassion and understanding.

Teams consist of at least 10 people and are from churches, local businesses and industries, service organizations and families. The groups go out and canvass low-income neighborhoods, knocking on doors and asking people if there is anything they need.

The Thousand Ten Project has made an impact in Seymour because some of the people who have been helped in the past now volunteer to help others.

Teams will gather at 11 a.m. Saturday at Shields Park and receive assignments, get T-shirts, huddle and pray and then disperse by noon to begin doing God’s work and making Seymour a better place, Lockman said.

At 2 p.m., everyone is invited back to the park to share testimonials of their service and share in a meal.

T-shirts for the event are available at the church for $10.

This year’s theme is “Go. Serve. Love” and is based around Isaiah 6:8: “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’”

“Everyone is invited to join us and participate in this project,” Lockman said. “The only way this event works is if the Body of Christ functions how it’s supposed to, so we need every church and every believer to join together and go out to be the hands and feet of Jesus.”

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What: The Alley’s seventh annual Thousand Ten Project

When: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Shields Park in Seymour

Cost: $10

If you could benefit from the services provided by the Thousand Ten Project, know someone who could or want to start or join a team or sponsor the event, call Pastor Stevie Lockman at 812-498-5505.

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