wfn.org | CRWRC - 200 Local Students Head-out for Spring Break Service Projects

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.org>]

> IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? April 3, 2009

CRWRC-DRS director Bill Adams, cell 616-560-2782

CRWRC-US media contact Beth DeGraff, cell 616-648-7821 or 1-800-55-CRWRC

200 Local Students Head-out for Spring Break Service Projects

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.  Hundreds of local students are traveling over the weekend to some of the nation?s hardest-hit disaster areas. The volunteers, mostly high schoolers from Grand Rapids area churches, are giving up their Spring vacation to help families who are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, the Midwest floods, and Hurricane Ike.

?This week is different because these students have a choice,? says Disaster Response Services
(DRS) staffer, Torey Kittleson, for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC). ?They?re free for a week of vacation -- and they choose to help people in need rather than go to the beach and lie out in the sun.?

The volunteers, from Christian Reformed congregations (CRCs) in Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Kentwood, Hudsonville, Lake Odessa, Byron Center, Kalamazoo and other locales, will work on housing reconstruction jobs throughout the week.

CRWRC-DRS assists disaster survivors in North America who are unable to recover from a major disaster on their own ? those who are disabled, ill, elderly, without insurance, or beyond the help of other organizations.

Volunteers, like this week?s Spring Break teens, clean up, remove debris, and help rebuild the homes and lives of people who have lost much of the material resources they may have owned.

CRWRC-DRS groups manager Art Opperwall says that skilled and licensed supervisors provide guidance and trade expertise to the student groups while they work in Gulf Coast states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

?John VanderBerg is a plumber from Ivanrest CRC who has helped with Hurricane Katrina recovery six or eight times since that disaster in 2005,? Opperwall says. ?This year he?s taking his wife and children with him. Their trip will overlap with two volunteer groups serving in Long Beach, Mississippi.?

Other West Michigan youth are helping out in different parts of the country. Friendship CRC in Byron Center Mich., is sending 20 volunteers, both youth and experienced adults, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they will continue to clean up and rebuild after the major flooding there last year. Local Grand Rapids businesses are also helping with Friendship?s transportation needs.

?When our volunteers go on a service trip, they come back different, Kittleson says. ?They go to help others, but they realize that the people they are helping have just as big an impact on them. When our volunteers see how little our clients have, and at the same time are so grateful and praising God for the help -- that has a big impact on those who go to serve.? The sacrifice of a week of vacation becomes the privilege of service.

Kittleson says that a lot of volunteers come back spiritually enriched. ?They are able to share the love of Christ with those they meet and help. It?s a powerful experience. ?

CRWRC-DRS coordinates disaster recovery work groups over Spring Break and throughout the year. Those interested in finding out more about CRWRC-DRS volunteer opportunities can log on to www.greenshirts.org or call 1-800-848-5818. CRWRC has openings for skilled and unskilled volunteers in rapid response, needs assessment, and construction.

Tax-deductible gifts to CRWRC-DRS can be given by calling 1-800-55-CRWRC, or online at www.crwrc.org.  Checks should be made out to
"CRWRC-DRS," and sent to 2850 Kalamazoo Ave. SE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49560.

For more information about CRWRC?s Disaster Response Services, visit www.crwrc.org or call 1-800-55-CRWRC. CRWRC is a Christian non-profit organization ministering in development, relief, and justice education with people in need around the world since 1962. CRWRC is present in 30 countries and has an international reputation for
?living justice, and loving mercy.?

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"No. No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." MLK

> Beth DeGraff
> CRWRC Media and Justice Contact
> 2850 Kalamazoo Avenue SE
> Grand Rapids, MI 49560-0600
> 1-800-55-CRWRC
> www.crwrc.org

Note that my email address has changed to bdegraff@crwrc.org.

CRWRC is a registered non-profit agency of the CRC-NA in both the U.S. and Canada.