Love thy neighbor as thyself. That is the main idea found in Mark 12:31.

That Bible verse is the basis of Athens First United Methodist Church’s six-day campaign called Missions 144, which the church said will feature “over 50 service projects” benefitting residents in Limestone County.

“This will include things like building 50 beds for children, multiple wheelchair ramp builds, landscaping projects, a replacement window project, a gutter cleaning project, a painting project, step replacement projects, pressure washing, leaf removal, plumbing projects, a food drive and homeless service projects,” the church’s website says.

Athens FUMC member Bill Dunnavant said Missions 144 mostly came about because of COVID-19.

“We knew there were people that needed help, and we started calling various agencies in town,” he said. “There were several people that came up with this about three months ago, and we have been working on it since.”

The church said the campaign will run from Nov. 9-14, while Dunnavant said the food drive will take place from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday, Friday and Saturday of that week across from the Beasley Center at 200 Marion Street, Athens.

He said the food drive will be touchless, meaning donors need only show up and volunteers will take the items out of the vehicle for them.

Dunnavant said the local food bank the drive is benefitting has specifically requested the following items, though any nonperishable food will be accepted: flour, sugar, oil, cornmeal, tea, hot chocolate mix, boxed stuffing prepared on the stove top, gravy mix, boxed potatoes, canned sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, canned pumpkin, cranberry sauce, cake mix/frosting and canned ham.

Dunnavant said the church hopes to “crescendo” its efforts during the week on Nov. 14 by finishing the food drive, bringing back the shower for the homeless and having the youth help build the 50 beds for kids in the area who do not have them.

He said he and the church have been “blown away” by the amount of people, more than 100, who have volunteered to help with one of the projects throughout the week.

“It shows you people have a yearning to help others,” he said. “I’m very excited about that, very humbled and proud. It’s a wonderful thing so many are joining, and we are not turning anyone down.”

Visit athensfumc.org/ministries/missions-144/ for more information on the project. Email Dunnavant at wyldbd@aol.com if you would like to volunteer as part of the Missions 144 effort.