demonstrating kindness || meeting needs || impacting lives with the love of Jesus

Love Stockton has grown out of the success of SOS (Serve Our Stockton). SOS began in 2009 out of the Mayor of Stockton’s call for volunteerism in the City. Many local area churches caught the vision of SOS as a result of their Christian duty to serve one another. Last yearIn 2011, over 1,500 people came out on one day to serve the city we call home by completing over 70 community service projects, with almost 10,000 hours of service! After the success of three years of serving Stockton, it was apparent that more and more of the community of Stockton was interested in giving back … loving Stockton by serving Stockton.

The organizers of Serve Our Stockton were approached by the organizers of Love Modesto in support of what we were doing in Stockton. Their model of organizing their entire community resonated with organizers of Serve Our Stockton. The decision to convert SOS to Love Stockton just made sense as there are so many other cities up and down the valley with the same theme of loving their cities by serving their cities. Civic pride abounds in our valley where we all come together on one day, making an impact in our cities… loving on our cities!

Love Stockton will be a continuation of SOS in that we will engage in a variety of projects such as offering food to the hungry, visiting convalescent homes, donating blood, cleaning up our city parks and roadways, sprucing up our schools, and supplying needs to the homeless, among other endless opportunities.

So many amazing stories have come out of these days of service up and down the valley, but perhaps the greatest stories are hundreds and hundreds of people who now continue to regularly volunteer with the organizations and areas they served. This is our hope and prayer …renewed pride in cities, on-going volunteerism and our community transformed. Loving our cities would be just a part of who we are, preferring others as Jesus does.

As we dream for 2012, our vision is expanding to include more and more community organizations and businesses who would like to give back by serving the city they are committed to … to Love Stockton.

This is love, living in the way God commanded us to live. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is this: live a life of love. 2 John 6