Youth - Work Trip 2008

The BHCC Youth Work Trip took off on a week long service adventure June 29th.
We had four days of work.  Each day we divided into our work groups and we were off by nine o’clock.  Everyone spent two of the four days at Kid’s camp.  The remaining time was spent at some various houses of needy commu­nity members, a visit to a retirement home for the mentally handicapped called G.F. Horne, a local Food Bank, and La Casa Esperanza.

A days work could include service at the local food bank that feeds 19,000 out of the 55,000 population.
In addition, this food bank also takes care of many migrant workers daily. Our group found this just unbelievable! So many needy people. This food bank relies on local donations.

Cleaning at La Casa Esperanza, a thrift-like store where the clothes are given away. 
The kids organized clothing, cleaned and organized.   Upon entering the space, we were clearly reminded that our society donates a lot of stuff.  Where help is truly needed is in the organization of this surplus.  We tried to make everything accessible.  The store was closed while we worked.  Customers who wandered in were quickly ushered out by the uncompromising old lady who oversaw the store. During one moment the old “bouncer” was occupied upstairs when a young Hispanic mother timidly entered.  We knew we had little time until the old lady kicked her out. We tried to explain our haste through broken Spanish.  When we discovered she had three kids, we gave her all just ended up quoting Speedy Gonzales.  She smiled.  She got the message and her watery eyes were embracing all of us for a moment before she vanished.  We were lucky to have experi­enced that moment. It was a poignant morale boost. 

A "Kids Club" group that works like a year round head start program
This is similar to what our group did last year. Kids’ Camp was comprised of about fifty children between ages of five and ten. Most of them were the children of migrant workers.  We would drive about ten miles to a trailer park to pick up most of them. We would usually bring back about thirty-five to forty kids. The high school students were responsible for running the camp.

A portion of time was also spent working on houses of residents.
There was a lot of catching up from neglected yard work.  Some of the residents were gracious and some were less than gracious. One lesson I learned was that not everyone wants help. There was only so much we could do.  This is a heavy concept.  Jesus never charged us to feel good because of all the good work we do. Nonetheless, we are called to help each other. We, as Christians, feel compelled to react to grace.  This concepts remains as simple as breathing and yet as difficult to process as the concept of eternity.  Some moments during our trip were beautiful and some were trying, but through it all, we were living out the joy of serving others.