A week-long stay in St. Paul, Minn., will be anything but relaxing for members of a local church youth group, their director said.
When 19 members of YouthWorks — middle- and high-schoolers dedicated to serving God — head to St. Paul in July, they’ll focus on providing meals and clothes to the homeless; working extensively with preschool, school-aged and elderly residents in need; and packaging food bundles for children living overseas.
They’ll do so while bunking in spartan conditions at a local church.
“They’ll be up by 6 a.m. and be out and about until almost midnight,” director Lori Cooper said.
The youngsters wouldn’t want it any other way.
“It’s all about helping people,” member Karlie Lower said. “It’s a great feeling to know you may be making a difference in a person’s life.”
“And it brings us closer to God,” added member Mackenzie Weseloh.
The St. Paul trip follows a similar mission last summer to Chicago, where the group met up with several other missionary volunteers.
“That’s a large part of why they picked St. Paul,” Cooper said, noting many of the YouthServe contingent from other communities also will head to Minnesota.
THE GROUP travels to St. Paul July 22, where the youths will be housed in classrooms at Immanuel Lutheran Church in the Macalester/Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul.
They will spend 90 minutes daily dedicated to devotion time, followed by about 6 hours of working at local service sites. Two-hour evening activities will fill up the balance of the group’s seven days.
YouthWorks returns to Iola July 29.
THE YOUTHS have had a number of local fundraisers, from sales of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts and other baked goods and hosting a “Super Chef Challenge.”
“We’re about ‘bake-saled’ out,” Cooper joked.
