While the Newtown Ecumenical Workcamp Servants (NEWS) stayed close to home for another summer, the group is again ready to begin planning for a road trip.

A 2022 Trip Camper & Parent Info Meeting is being planned for October 5 at 7 pm, at Newtown Congregational Church, 14 West Street.

Workcamp enrollment is open to current high school students and 2021 high school graduates.

The program on Tuesday is for new and returning campers. Facemasks will be required, as the church is still masking for safety purposes.

Student and parents/guardians will learn about the program, including fundraising, and program fees.

As in past years, campers will be asked to support the program by participating in fundraising events and other activities, safety protocols permitting.

For those who decided to participate in the 2021–22 work camp program, a completed enrollment form and $250 deposit will be due by October 17. Forms and additional details will be available during the info session.

NEWS annually comprises Newtown youth in grades 9–12, representing many local houses of worship. Each year, these youth participate in a service trip to a community in need. In the past, the group has served in Rockford, Ill.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; Biloxi, Miss.; Hinton, W.Va.; and Chavies, Ky.

NEWS is “cautiously hopeful,” says organizer and chaperone Laura Roche, that it will be able to “plan a trip outside of Connecticut with our goal to partner with Praying Pelicans Mission [PPM] and travel to Puerto Rico as was planned before the pandemic shifted the world.”

NEWS had planned a trip to the unincorporated US territory in 2020 and 2021. Both were canceled due to the arrival and then continuation of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, 15 young adults and six adult leaders spent three days this past June working on projects for those unable to do so for themselves. The projects were coordinated through Community Caring Center in Bridgewater.

Meanwhile, PPM, according to Roche, “did execute over 20 mission programs in 2021 and has operated with strong safety protocols without issue.”

If nothing else, the past two years has taught everyone that being flexible is key. NEWS’s contingency plan this year is to explore other PPM locations in the continental United States, within driving distance, should a flight to Puerto Rico need to once again be canceled, according to Roche.

All of this and more will be covered during the October 5 meeting.

Parents and other adults interested in serving as chaperones and/or on the NEWS Advisory Board are also invited to attend the meeting, as are pervious workcampers who have graduated out of the program are also invited.

“We encourage and welcome your sharing of our program with friends and family that might be interested,” the advisory board said via a September 29 post on the NEWS Facebook page.

Reservations are not needed for October 5, but additional information is available by contacting Laura Roche at lauraroche41@gmail.com.