Church members 'flock' to flamingo fun

STUART, Fla. (UMNS) · When Kathy Garlington, lay leader of First United Methodist Church, woke up one morning last August, she had 50 pink flamingoes standing in her front yard. She had been "flocked."

The note attached to one of the plastic birds said her daughter and son-in-law had sent them to her.

"It was amazing," she said.  "I probably knew it was coming.  My daughter and son-in-law had talked to me about it ... I just didn't know when it would happen."

The flamingoes are part of a mission fund-raising project of the Christians Under Construction Sunday school class at the Stuart church, said Carey Jackson, a class member and Garlington's son-in-law.

The church's membership consists primarily of older people, according to Jackson, and the class for adults from their mid 20s to low 40s was looking for new ways to accelerate its growth.

"We wanted to make it more accessible, to gain some notoriety.  We said, 'Let's give back to the church and community some way,' " he said.

The idea for the flamingoes came from another class member, Sandi Karrick, whose brother lives in Illinois and had done a Pink Flamingo Project in his church.

If someone wants the flock delivered to the front yard of a friend, relative or neighbor, all she or he has to do is call the church with details and give a $25 donation.

"We deliver them between 7:30 and 9 p.m., and we do it quietly so you don't know we've been there," Jackson said.  "We now have four shifts of three people each ...and we can put the birds out in five minutes."

One of the flamingoes carries a note identifying the sender and giving the recipient three options.  "The first (option) is you can do unto others as they have done unto you," Jackson said.  "For $25, you can send them on.  You can wait a couple of days, and we'll come pick them up for you, or you can donate $25 and not send the flock to anyone.  Eighty percent of the flamingoes have been sent on." Garlington said she sent the flamingoes to three of her friends in the church, but others have been sending them to people outside the church.

"They also take special requests, like birthdays," she said.  "One member was going to chemotherapy, so someone sent the flamingoes to him that night before he went to chemo.  He woke up the next morning and saw them. It gave him a boost and a laugh."

Jackson said the strangest request they've had so far is to flock a 15th-floor condominium balcony.  "I think the lady that lives there was just lonely and wanted to talk to us," he said.  "We're accommodating because it's all for the Lord."

In the four months since the Pink Flamingo Project began, the class has raised more than $2,000.  Jackson said the project will continue until people stop calling to flock their friends and neighbors.

The class gave 75 percent of the money collected so far to the church's caring and missions ministries.  The remaining 25 percent was held to help a family during the holiday season.

*  Wacht is the assistant editor of the Florida Annual Conference's edition of the United Methodist Review. This story first appeared in that publication.