Trinity Youth Complete 19th Year Of Workcamp Mission Outreach

On Sunday, July 10, 40 youth and ten adults from Trinity Episcopal Church set out for Keansburg, N.J., to complete their 19th successive summer mission trip with Group Workcamps Foundation. The Group Workcamp Mission concept, with its origins rooted back in the 1970s, brings together youth and adult chaperones from all religions around the country for a week of outreach, encompassing lots of hard work, spirituality, fellowship, Christian music and entertainment, and even some fun.

The Trinity group met at their church at 8 am Sunday morning. They celebrated worship service together and received a blessing from Pastor Kathie Adams-Shepard before departing.

This year’s Jersey Shore Workcamp, sponsored by the local community churches, involved 418 youth and adults working across 64 residences to build wheelchair ramps, repair broken decks and porches, mend leaking roofs, scrape and paint-paint-paint old houses, and share religious devotions with their residents each day. The residents ranged in age from a 91-year-old “English War Bride” down to 20-year-old single parents, impacted by the tough economic times. Each year the youth of Trinity come back from workcamp, uplifted by their experiences and with a newfound devotion to God’s workings, as a result of their accomplishments.

The youth participating in this year’s workcamp are members of the Trinity Young Adults in Church and Journey to Adulthood Groups, ages 13–17, as well as, a few friends and invited guests from other churches in the Newtown area.

The accompanying adult leaders and chaperones included veteran workcampers Peter Anderau, Paget Haylon, Rick Haylon, Shauna King, Beth Thompson and motivated workcampers Mark Benedict, Jen Petersen, and Rob Ryder.

In addition, Larry Coleman and Curt Symes, with 18 and16 workcamps, respectively, accompanied the Trinity team, both as a part of the Youth Group and as “Red Shirt” Site Coaches, working with the Group Workcamp Foundation staff and the local church sponsors.

Over the course of the week the workcampers combined with the Group Workcamp staff and local sponsoring “Blue Shirt” team of more than 50 people to collect and raise funds to purchase more than 5,000 cans of food to be donated to the local food pantries in the area.

As workcamp drew to a close on the morning of Saturday, July 16, and the youth and adults were saying heartfelt and tearful good-byes to both old and new friends, there was a strong sense of pride in what had been achieved over the course of the week by the 64 crews, comprised of five youth and one adult leader. Trinity’s workcampers returned to Newtown later in the day.

This was the fourth workcamp conducted in Keansburg over the past seven years. The mayor and other leaders of the community thanked the youth each evening during the workcamp program for their hard work, commitment, and dedication.

In looking back over the week, one four-year veteran workcamper and NHS graduating senior said, “I’m really sad that it is over,” while another commented that it was “the most meaningful workcamp from a personal experience and encompassed very moving programs.”

A first-time adult chaperone whose two sons attended numerous workcamps said that the experience “surpassed [his] expectation and [he] was amazed by the outstanding friendships and bonding.”

Trinity Youth Leaders are already working on selecting a site for next year’s workcamp and planning for the fundraising necessary to help finance their mission trip. To learn more about workcamp and the Trinity’s Youth Program, visit www.TrinityNewtownCT.org or call 203-426-9070.