NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – Bridges of Hope have brought together the New Haven community for a Saturday full of fun, music and service. 

A large group gathered on the New Haven Green Saturday morning, clad in bright blue shirts to show their appreciation for the city. 

The day began with musical performances and worship before the group set out into the city to perform community service projects like handing out school supplies and cleaning playgrounds.  

Member Craig Leukens, of the Christ Presbyterian Church of New Haven, said of the event, “It’s just very easy to get isolated in our own little worlds, our own silos; and churches do it just as people do it, and politics like everybody else. So this is an opportunity to see how big God is and how big the need is.”

The event is organized by Bridges of Hope, a collaborative of New Haven churches of varying ethnicities with the goal of empowering the New Haven community through acts of kindness. I Heart New Haven has been an annual event in the Elm City since 2015.