The 28th annual Riverside Christian School Apple Festival was held in Washougal, Wash., on Oct. 14, 2018. As in the years past, church and school volunteers spent two Sundays making apple pies and apple dumplings. They made and froze more than 450 pies and 1,050 dumplings. On the day of the festival, volunteers served slices hot with ice cream to eager customers.
The day of the festival was sunny and warm. The gorgeous fall day brought hundreds of people to the school. More than 30 vendors sold goods ranging from salsa, candied nuts, baked goods and face painting to home décor, sauces and honey. Kids enjoyed pony rides and goats, a jumpy house, pumpkin painting and the dunk tank. The Washougal/Camas Fire Department brought their fire truck for a fun hands-on activity for the kids. The pie-eating contest for younger ages was also a huge hit.
The Apple Festival is Riverside’s biggest fundraiser of the year. It is also a huge outreach opportunity for the school. A portion of vendor sales and 75 percent of the sales from the booths and activities directly benefit Riverside Christian School's classrooms and students. A quarter of the funds raised goes into financial aid to help more students have a Christian education.
Part of this year’s funds will go towards an expansion and remodeling project, for which the church and school are partnering. Being intentional about the mission of “Together as One,” the church and the school are united in their mission to serve the families in the community. Merrill Caviness, Riverside Church pastor, says, “One of the new things that has happened this year is that I, along with Lynda Logan, are teaching Bible at Riverside. The relationships built between our church and school family is what keeps our community going. Loving Jesus and knowing Him is something we strive for every day.” He also points out that “the Apple Festival is important because it allows us to reach out and connect to those outside our walls.”
As part of the community service outreach program, students and teachers visited local businesses and handed out posters advertising for the upcoming festival. They returned to distribute pies and dumplings to the sponsors as a thank you.
Tymi Wright, Riverside Christian School’s principal, says, “The Apple Festival provides the perfect opportunity for our students to be actively involved in a huge community outreach project from start to finish. Our students view firsthand how church and school can work together as one team to create a successful event that reaches over 1,200 people every year in a positive way. Our students can take what they learn from project-based learning in the classroom and actually apply it on a larger scale for our biggest fundraiser of the year.”
The school’s other large event is the upcoming school auction in April.
To learn more about Riverside School, visit www.riversidesch.com.
