The Union West End Cemetery’s wrought iron fence has been in need of a paint job for some time, but because of its extensive length of over a mile, there was no one to take on the massive job, or at least there wasn’t until the youth group from Westover Church from Greensboro, North Carolina showed up ready, able and willing to take on the challenge. The group of about 200 youth and 45 adults arrived in Allentown on Saturday, June 20th. Each year the church picks a destination for the trip, dubbed “Project Serve” because of its service oriented theme. One of the adult leaders, Kaz, told me how the group had originally planned to go down south to do flood and hurricane relief, but after a series of attempts fell through, the leaders felt that they needed to search for a different location, and after much searching, the leaders felt called to PA.
After getting in contact with the mayor’s office, whom Kaz told me was a great resource to work with, the group found a place to stay and projects that needed to be done. The group divided themselves into smaller “work teams,” each with 1 adult leader and the rest eager workers, each at various points in their high school career. All of the youth that I spoke with seemed very excited to be in Allentown working. Many of them had given up opportunities to work, be part of swim team, or time to lounge around and enjoy summer vacation, to come out and work in the hot sun. Olivia, one of the youth, told me as she was preparing the fence with a wire brush, in preparation for a paint crew that she really enjoys the opportunity to get out into an unfamiliar community and have the chance to talk to people one on one about their lives, and to help them in any way possible.
This theme was echoed by Matt and Julie, also high school youth, who conveyed their enthusiasm for being able to talk to people about why they were there and what they were doing. For Julie, this is just an extension of her service at home where she frequently spends time feeding and talking to the homeless. Jon, the youth pastor and fearless leader of the team summed things up well as he explained to me that the youth on this trip are simply looking for a way to get alongside and help people who are unable to, or can’t afford to things themselves. Whatever their motivation, we at OAPA are extremely grateful for all of the sacrifice and hard work that they have given to Allentown. To all of the team, thank you very much, hope you have lots of fun at Hersheypark!!
