Congregation’s summer program mixes education, outreach

Julie Brantley reads with Michael Nguyen as part of the Care Play Read summer program at the Saturn Road Church of Christ in Garland, Texas. Organizer Paul Burnam said the program is a “reading, VBS, free lunch, educational outreach ministry.” Started 14 years ago, Care Play Read has grown to serve about 125 students in kindergarten through fourth grade. The program runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday for seven weeks. “This program is special for so many reasons,” Burnam said. “It is a ministry that brings all ages of volunteers of the church together. We have young mothers all the way to 80-year-old brothers and sisters in the faith. They work side by side.”