Members of 'The Crossing' church reach out to their neighbors in Clair-Mel

CLAIR-MEL, Fla. - Clair Mel Elementary was awash in "happy humanity" Saturday for a big block party put on by a neighborly, neighborhood church reaching out to their neighbors

"We believe that a church is more than just sitting in a pew," said Norris Brown, the Director of Missions for the Crossing Church -- whose campus is located just a few miles away from the Saturday gathering site. "We want to be outside the wall," he continued. "You know the theme of the outreach this year is 'Go...' just get out of the walls of the church and get out there."

So on this Saturday in October, hundreds of church-based volunteers from the church got out here with contests and give-aways, health screenings and haircuts, and -- of course -- a lot of food...

Greg Dumas // PASTOR
"We beleive that there are places in our city where God says, 'This is the place and this is where we want you to go,' and it's close to us and so that's why we picked Clair Mel," said Pastor Greg Dumas -- looking on as a dance contest entertained the crowd. "We've got a relationship here (at the school) that's been a four-year relationship so we thought we'd carry it forward."

The school administration couldn't be more pleased with the impact this program's had so far, with everything from upgraded landscaping, to that intangible feeling of unity that events like this can create in a community.

Now, The Crossing crew says they're expanding their vision of service, working next weekend on help for Haiti to the tune of a quarter million meals...

"And the next year 2012, we're going to have more events combined with other churches and do this all around Tampa," said Dumas.