Atheists Help Community During National Day Of Prayer

For many, faith is a sign of goodness. For others, not so much. While belief in God is a personal choice, being a responsible person isn’t exclusive to those who trust in a higher power. This is all about extending a helping hand.

A good and responsible citizen isn’t necessarily one that goes to Sunday church. Rather, it is someone who goes out of his or her way to help the community. It is showing love and providing help when needed.


Atheism is defined as the lack of belief in the existence of God and over the years, atheists have gotten a bad rap. They are often deemed as lawless folks who simply did anything they wanted – be it good or bad. When they heard about the annual National Day of Prayer, they decided to prove the naysayers wrong and used this occasion to reach out and do good works in their community.

Atheist Community of Polk County

The Atheist Community of Polk County, Florida, decided to show the others that they are there to contribute to the community. Eleven of their members spent the day organizing community service events. They were there to raise awareness and make everyone know that “fellowship” doesn’t always require “faith”.

This was their answer to the National Day of Prayer. They, instead celebrated the Secular Week of Action. This specific day was set aside in US federal law for those of faith to pray for the nation. This happens every first Thursday in May.

Instead of celebrating the day in deep thoughts and prayers to God, the secular groups all over have organized service projects. This year, they have emphasized on the compassionate response to hunger and homelessness. They know that these two have been more of a problem in the recent months because the worldwide pandemic has exacerbated these.

Their nonprofit organization hasn’t reached the far corners of the globe just yet. For now, they cover  the metro areas of Lakeland and Winter Haven. At to date, they have several ongoing programs to address these crucial social issues that have affected millions of Americans. The best part is that they practice acceptance. They even collaborated with a church in a unique food pantry coalition as their response to the Covid-19 issues.

They have partnered with the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Lakeland in a project called “It Takes a Village.” They gathered different volunteers to deliver food pantry supplies directly to the homes of those who have been quarantined or who are unable to drive the pantry for many reasons.

The local atheists of the group also run a chapter of Street Warriors. Their goal is to provide hot meals to the homeless folks in the area. They also have a Backpack Program. The said program supplies weekend groceries for young students in the elementary age.

Atheist Community of Polk County

The men and women behind the group have successfully been able to provide much-needed relief, such as food and groceries, to folks throughout the County. Their Secular Week of Action includes a litter clean-up in the adopted roadway in Haines City. Their volunteers are called Street Warriors and the service project will also be meeting on Sunday  in Winter Haven. On that day, they’ll be packing food before going around to feed people without roofs over their heads.

The group functions under different slogans such as “Good without God,” “Community without Church,” and “Fellowship without Faith.” The Polk County Atheists Co-founder Sarah Ray believes that her group provides is a sense of community, which is vital nowadays.


Ray explains, “We want to let other nonbelievers know that there is a secular community here they can turn to. And we want to challenge the misconceptions and stereotypes about atheists. We are good people, we’re your neighbors, co-workers, and friends.”

The group will provide a secular invocation at the Polk County Board of County Commissioners Meeting. This is scheduled to happen two days before the National Day of Prayer. As they say, their goal is, “Providing secular invocations gives us an opportunity to remind elected officials at all levels that nonbelievers exist in their constituency.”

Anyone interested can join the weekly ongoing charitable events. The details are found in Meetup.com. Other information for different areas are also found here.

 

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