CENTRAL PARK, Colo. — Pastor Nick Callaway walks to the booth in the lobby of the Go Church in Central Park.
"We put this in a few weeks ago — it’s our Go Church story booth," he said. "We believe every person matters and every story matters.”
The booth is like a modern-day black and white photo booth that would pop out a strip of pictures — except this one records a video of your story.
Most Sundays, Pastor Nick will share someone’s story from a stage in the front of the pulpit.
Andy Levy and his family have been going to this church for years.
"Erin and I started coming here after our third kid was born — that’s when the church was in a school if you can believe that," he said.
He is a doctor, but he hit record in the story booth to share his family story and how his wife Erin is in the middle of a bone marrow transplant and fighting Leukemia for a second time.
Andy said Erin was diagnosed in May 2021 and that friends started a blood drive just to help out.
This year marks the fifth annual drive here.
Pastor Nick said the reason they host the drives is that they want to be healing hands in a hurting world and that it’s a practical way they can give back.
This church has been a part of Erin and Andy, just like their trips to the redwoods, or hiking in California, or on the water, or just together.
"It’s something we talk about every single day," Andy said. "It’s really the backbone of our relationship — all those experiences, all those memories. That is something that keeps Erin motivated.”
The Go Church Blood Drive is almost full, but Andy and Pastor Nick hope that won’t stop donors.
“The community here is so amazing," said Brooke Derloshon from Vitalant, which organizes the drive. "Slots are always full and we expect that, so we leave a couple slots open for walk-ins.”
"If you can find your way to a blood donation center around the holidays, there is no greater gift," Andy said. "You’re giving somebody life that way… Erin’s life.”
And really, this may be too much of a coincidence to leave out of this story: In rush hour traffic, with hundreds of cars in each lane, traffic slowly came to a halt on I-70. Just ahead, a license plate reading "GIVBLD." The perfect way to tell this story in two words.
