wfn.org | UCC Serve, be safe, have fun: Youth give back to Grand Rapids

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

Serve, be safe, have fun: Youth give back to Grand Rapids

> Written by Rebecca Bowman Woods
> June 27, 2009

It's early on Friday morning, but the youth from two UCC congregations
are ready for another day of hands-on volunteering in Grand Rapids.
The service projects are part of the Youth @ General Synod program,
and for some, a key reason for coming to Synod.

Over breakfast at Aquinas College, Brittany Baker of St. Peter's UCC
in Stillwater, Minn., talked about working at Habitat's ReStore
<habitatkent.org/restore/>. "It's like a hardware store, but
everything there is donated," said Baker. On Thursday, she helped with
inventory, organizing and cleaning.

Baker said she was impressed with how the regular workers interacted
with ReStore's customers, making conversation and treating them with  respect.

Hannah Schwarze is from Parkview UCC in White Bear Lake, Minn. On
Thursday, her group worked at vacant houses, weeding flowerbeds and
making the homes appear lived in so they don't attract criminals.

Liana Egan and Caitlin Kawaguchi of Daville (Calif.) Cong. UCC, with
Grand Rapids Habitat volunteer Troy Methner learning to use a framing  square.
Wes Stevens photo

Their efforts inspired someone else to offer a kind gesture. "A
neighbor brought us popsicles," Schwarze said.

The youth ? more than 200 of them ? finished eating and gathered
outside the cafeteria. They picked up box lunches and boarded shuttle
buses bound for Friday's work sites.

Local Habitat for Humanity coordinator Dave Zimmerman was ready when
they arrived.

"Good morning! How's everyone doing?" Zimmerman boomed. The response:
"Woo-ooo!"

He explained the project ? four 4-unit condos that will house 16
families. On today's agenda: siding, soffits, firewalls, trusses and more.

"The number one thing today is safety," Zimmerman told the group of
about 40. He set down the rules ? wear your hardhat and safety
glasses, drink lots of water, don't be afraid to ask for help. Then he
called the group to prayer.

Zimmerman's site is one of several places where UCC youth are lending
a hand during General Synod. The full list includes UCC churches,
Habitat sites, Pilgrim Manor and local organizations.

As the sun climbed, so did the temperature. At Mackay Jaycees Park, a
group took a break in the shade. Kayla Hultquist, of Sioux City, Iowa,
loaded one more wheelbarrow full of mulch, then sat down beside her
new friend, Sidney Hodnott of Portland, Ore. The two girls met
Thursday working at ReStore. Today, they were mulching a playground.

The work projects are "good for the community here," Hultquist said.
"They're in such a rough spot right now."

Across town at United Church Outreach Ministries <ucomgr.org> ,
regular volunteers have seen the growing need for food, clothing and
other kinds of assistance.

Coordinator and UCC member Shawn Keener was thrilled to have so many
people willing to unpack boxes, sort and label food and clean. "We had
a fantastic group yesterday, and today's group is wonderful too," she said.

Upstairs, a few youth were painting an apartment. One was Abe
Mulberry, who wasn't a UCC member, but came to the last Synod and
"just had a blast." He returned with a group from Sheboygan, Wis.

Besides working hard and having fun, organizers built in opportunities
for deeper learning about poverty and other issues. Youth ministry
consultant Thom Chu led a study of the "Just Neighbors" curriculum
from the Interfaith Hospitality Network on Thursday evening. On Monday
? the last day for the service projects ? Justice and Witness
Ministries and Wider Church Ministries will lead a program to help
teens connect faith, service and justice, said the Rev. Kelly Burd,
the UCC's interim minister for Youth and Young Adults.

Habitat took the lead in coordinating all the projects, Burd said. One
of the chief local organizers is Colleen Mahon-Van Doren, Habitat's
manager of volunteer services and a member of Plymouth Congregational
UCC in Grand Rapids.

"People asked me, 'How are you going to manage 227 youth?' " Mahon-Van
Doren said. "I said, 'Well, UCC youth can manage themselves. You just
have to point them in the right direction."