Working in a makeshift assembly line in their home off Roper Mountain Road, the four Farrell kids — Maggie, 13, Evan, 14, Connor, 16 and Mary Kate, 18 — pull a clear plastic pouch from a cardboard box and fill it with items most of us take for granted. A razor, a bar of soap, deodorant, a face cloth, a tooth brush, toothpaste and shampoo. All are packed into the pouch along with a bible verse, printed on a slip of paper.
On the outside, a small, white sticker says “Bright Lights Greenville.” Once packed, these kits — 50 to 100 a month, depending on how much money they’ve raised — go to the Triune Mercy Center where they end up in the hands of Greenville’s homeless.
Between 50 and 100 Bright Lights kits are delivered to Triune Mercy Center each month. Photo Rick SpruillNone of the Farrell kids really remember whose idea it was, serving this way. But the ‘why’ is clear: once their eyes opened to the city’s homeless, they didn’t want to shut them.
“We thought we should do something to help them out,” Mary Kate said. “And bring a ‘bright light’ to their day.”
And that’s how “Bright Lights Greenville” (Instagram: bright.lights.gvl) was born.
Evan says it’s a way to care for others. “We’re trying to promote empathy to all, especially the homeless.” Maggie agreed, adding that it’s about being grateful.
Bright Lights started off small, just a few kits delivered to the Triune Mercy Center by the Farrell’s each month. But when the pandemic hit the need increased.
Evan, Connor, Maggie and Mary Kate Farrell (left to right). Photo by Rick Spruill“We just really wanted to come up with a way we could help support the community,” Connor said. “We sat down and said maybe we can do something more with this.”
In a sermon delivered Feb. 27, Triune Mercy Center pastor Jennifer Fouse Sheorn used the Farrells’ example to spur others on.
“Upon Connor’s insistence, he and his siblings applied for and won a Global Youth Mobilization grant which has helped them to further their mission of sharing Christ’s light with those experiencing homelessness,” Fouse Sheorn preached. “How are you reflecting God’s glory and reflecting the light of Christ to others? ”
That Global Youth Mobilization grant — $1,500 — helped launch a website and set up an online fundraising portal. They’ve just become a 501(c)3, so donations are now tax-deductible.
“Our goal is to be able to do 100 per month, long-term, but we haven’t had the funds to sustain that,” Connor said. They’re also hoping to expand what they offer.
“We think, perhaps, we might do food kits, too. I’ve asked [Fouse Sheorn] if we could reevaluate the needs of the homeless there.”
Mary Kate, a senior at St. Joseph’s Catholic School (all the Farrells attend St. Joe’s), will leave for Villanova University in Pennsylvania in the fall on a partial swim scholarship. But, she said Bright Lights has been— and will continue to be — about putting an idea into action.
“If you have an idea, you can act on that idea and put it into practice and do what you can to make even a small difference in the community,” she said.
Shannon Farrell said watching her children slowly build Bright Lights has been a joy for her and their father, Mark. “It gets me a little emotional — this is what I attempt to teach them — I want them to realize they’ve been given a lot and to know that they can do something to help the community.”
