Volunteers Staying On Campus While Working

Rocky Mount, N.C. — A group of 380 young volunteers from as far away as Florida and Pennsylvania are working this week to renovate homes in two needy neighborhoods in Rocky Mount.

The volunteers are associated with the Group Workcamps Foundation, an interdenominational Christian group founded in Loveland, Colorado, in 1977 to serve communities and needy individuals.

Each day the volunteers paint houses, build wheelchair ramps, repair windows, fix steps and porches, make assorted carpentry repairs, and improve home structures in general. At night they return to their temporary quarters at North Carolina Wesleyan College, where they sleep in the residence halls and eat in the campus cafeteria.

To qualify for assistance from the volunteers, individuals must have a need they cannot meet on their own. Typically, the residents of homes being repaired are elderly, disabled, or victims of financial or social hardship. Sites where repairs are being made were selected in advance with assistance from local coordinators.

The young people and adults helping with the project go beyond simply volunteering their time. Each has actually paid a registration fee to cover the costs of project supplies, building materials, and other costs associated with their mission trip.

A typical work crew consists of at least one adult and five young people. Teams are assigned to project sites based on their skills and interests.

Not including this summer, nearly 300,000 teenagers and their adult leaders from across the nation have completed more than 41,000 service projects since the Group Workcamps began. This summer, Workcamp volunteers total nearly 25,000 participants nationwide.