Union County
Local girl uses birthday party to support dog rescue page 11
Rebels’ revival page 23
Serving Indian Trail, Marvin, Stallings, Waxhaw, Weddington and Wesley Chapel
Locally Owned & Operated www.unioncountyweekly.com
Volume 9, Number 41 • Oct. 9 to 15, 2014
Churches unite to fight hunger Event packs 36,000 meals for Change This World by Josh Whitener josh@unioncountyweekly.com
Tale of young yogis Young children learn the art of yoga and socialization at YogaTales. Courtney Schultz/UCW photos
Area children learn body confidence, community by Courtney Schultz courtney@unioncountyweekly.com
INDIAN TRAIL – Young yogis are learning to become comfortable with their bodies while making friends and exploring art in a class at the Indian Trail Cultural Arts Center. Area children and their parents attend YogaTales Tuesdays from 10
to 11 a.m. YogaTales combines stories, yoga, art and socialization, and is hosted in the arts center, located at 100 Navajo Trail. Sarah Klapprodt started YogaTales about five years ago, when she lived in Massachusetts, in response to her nephew’s struggles with speech and socialization. Klapprodt has a background in special education and psychology, and has worked as a yoga and art teacher,
as well as a specialized therapist who worked with children and teenagers with autism. Her first YogaTales class included about six “regular” students, who ultimately became close friends. Her nephew, who had trouble with others understanding him, could communicate effectively with the other children in the class. She moved to North Carolina about (see YogaTales on page 14)
MONROE – Twenty-two area churches recently united in an effort to fight hunger, one meal at a time. More than 300 volunteers met at Monroe Crossing Mall on Sept. 27 and packed 36,072 meals for Change This World, an organization that provides meals to children in need in Haiti, Honduras and Burundi, Africa. The initiative was an effort of the Union Baptist Association (UBA), which includes 78 Baptist churches in Union County. The youth group at Hopewell Baptist in Monroe, one of the UBA churches, was introduced to Change This World several years ago at Camp Caswell in Oak Island, North Carolina, and the church now hosts meal packing events at least once a year. Ashley Huneycutt, Hopewell Baptist’s minister of students, had the opportunity to travel to Haiti with Change This World to deliver the food packages. Huneycutt saw firsthand how the meals make a difference in the lives of children in need. “I was able to see (the whole process) from packing the meals to delivering to cooking the food,” he said. “We actually got to serve the meals to the kids in the schools in Haiti.” Huneycutt said the experience was life changing. He witnessed more than 100 children wait patiently to eat until all of their peers received their meals, and saw their generosity as they saved part of their meals to give to family members. “They were basically starving and didn’t eat all their food,” Huneycutt said. “Most of them saved half of a plate – many of them took the (see Change this World on page 10)
INDEX: News Briefs, 6; Crime Blotter, 7; Scores, 8; Education, 17; Faith, 19; Home Sales, 20; Calendar, 23; Sports, 24; Classifieds, 31