Newtown Ecumenical Workcamp Servants (NEWS) invited community members to the group’s annual fundraising breakfast at Newtown Congregational Church (NCC) on Saturday, March 8. The event saw family, friends, alumni, and other guests completely fill the church’s Great Room for breakfast, raffles, testimonials, and more.

NEWS is a mission group of high school students who participate in fundraising and team-building events, as well as local service projects before heading out of town for a focused trip away from home. These students, who are also known as workcampers, travel somewhere each summer for a mission trip and complete home repair projects in low-income areas. This year’s mission trip will have 32 youth and 10 chaperones travel to Northeast Harbor, Maine, where they will work with Maine Seacoast Mission, a nonprofit organization that strengthens coastal and island communities by providing food, supporting students, fixing up homes, and more.

The fundraising breakfast is a longstanding tradition for NEWS, and is the largest annual fundraising event for the workcamp. Every table had a tip jar for people to put money in, but that was not the only way NEWS raised funds.

Attendees could also buy raffle tickets and try their luck for 35 different gift baskets, all contributed by local families. Each one was filled with unique gifts and goodies, ranging from chocolate, snacks and wine to quilts, houseplants, books, and more. There was also a silent auction for a handcrafted bench and wall clock, along with a 50/50 raffle.

Chatter filled the room as everyone happily ate breakfast together. Some workcampers began the morning served attendees pastries such as muffins and cinnamon rolls. Others poured cups of coffee, orange juice, and water. After that was the main entrée: a hot plate filled with scrambled eggs, home fries, and sausage links.

Guests could also snack on small cups filled with several slices of fruit. Workcampers served food all morning, constantly checking to make sure their guests were happy.

To Give Back

Jay Edwards returned yet again to emcee the breakfast fundraiser, using his energy and passion to keep everyone’s spirits high throughout the morning. He thanked everyone for attending and for showing their support for NEWS.

Edwards shared with the audience that he chaperoned his first NEWS trip in 2001, and has done a handful more over the years since then. He said emceeing these annual breakfast fundraisers since 2005, when it used to be held at Roberto’s Restaurant in Monroe, has been “absolutely fantastic.”

“It’s great to connect with so many students every year,” said Edwards, a teacher at Newtown High School. “I know so many of them, if not all of them ... and it’s fantastic to see all the rewards — an entire year of teaching — broken down into this once-a-year intensive trip where we do acts of service.”

Real Food CT Founder Sean Fitzpatrick spoke about his nonprofit , which runs two community farms and has partnered with 15 different local farms to deliver locally grown fresh produce to neighbors in need. NEWS workcampers have visited the Huntingtown Road gardens a few times to help Real Food CT with farm projects such as rebuilding a new wash station or planting blueberry beds.

“So you all supporting them in this mission means a lot to us. It also means a lot to the community that, when people show up for their community, it does make a difference,” Fitzpatrick said.

Newtown Lions Club Charity Committee Chairman Bruce Walczak presented a generous $500 donation to the workcamp cause. He said Newtown Lions Club has always been a big supporter of all the local church programs, hosting some blood drives and making almost monthly donations to the hospitality hall.

“So we’re really pleased to be a sponsor and donate to the work camp,” Walczak said.

Newtown Lions Club members Jan Bennett, Joan Alexander, and Tiffany Robertson excitedly presented the check to NCC Reverend Matt Crebbin.

This transitioned into heartfelt testimonials given by four NEWS workcampers, who not only shared personal stories from their mission trips, but also the rewarding feelings that have stuck with them years later.

Sophomore Joey Rossomando was the first to speak. He is in his third year of workcamp and previously went on NEWS mission trips to Kentucky and Mississippi. While he shared that he originally joined because his mom made him, which got a laugh out of the audience, Rossomando said he stayed because of the experience.

He said the mission trips taught him first-hand how to use different tools independently and how much helping others was good for the environment.

“I was also completing a task that seemed huge to do just in one week, but by the time Friday came, we felt so accomplished,” Rossomando said.

As large as the tasks may seem, Rossomando said he and the other workcampers feel so accomplished by what they can all achieve together. Between taking shifts from making breakfast and dinner to repairing homes, Rossomando said he was happy to make families happy through his two mission trip experiences.

Next up was junior Corynn Hettenbach, who said June will be her third year participating on a NEWS mission trip. The first trip she went on during her freshman year was to Pineville, Kentucky. Outside of learning how to use tools like a circular saw, a staple hammer, and a drill, Hettenbach said she also got “really close” with the family they worked with, especially the two young girls.

Hettenbach said the girls’ mother pulled her aside one day and said that her daughters didn’t have many friends, and that she really appreciated how much Hettenbach had been interacting with them.

“This trip made me realize how much I love helping people, which is one of the many reasons I keep coming back,” Hettenbach said.

Junior Leah Morris spoke next, sharing that this is her second year of doing the mission trip. Morris said she went to Biloxi, Miss., last year and worked on a house owned by a 92-year-old man named Fred, adding that it was a “really special experience” for her.

What made the trip so special for her was that she could tell just how grateful Fred was for the support. To that end, Morris said she would never forget how Fred kept a book of all the groups of people who helped around his house because he had been there for so long.

“It just made me feel very grateful to be there and help him out,” Morris said.

The last person to share a testimonial was junior Lyla Kopp. She said this will be her second year going on the mission trip, and that the trip to Biloxi was “super fun despite the very hot and humid weather.”

The house she worked on was owned by an old woman named Miss Patricia, who treated everyone to pizza, drinks, and snacks on one of their last days on the trip. She sat everyone down and talked to them about how grateful she was toward all of the groups that helped her over the years, including the Newtown group, Kopp shared.

“I made a lot of friends and a lot of memories, and saw how everyone we helped was so grateful ... I just think it’s great that you’re all here supporting a good cause,” Kopp said.

Goodbyes & Good Prizes

Once all the students finished sharing testimonials, it was time for the highly-anticipated raffle drawings. NEWS workcampers lined up and carried each gift basket toward the front of the room, where Crebbin pulled out a raffle ticket to see who would win. Some tables had more luck than others, with one walking away with eight out of the 35 gift baskets.

After that was the 50/50 raffle, with the winner’s share totaling $645. Edwards said that this was “easily a record” based on his memory.

The winner of the 50/50 raffle, instead of claiming the earnings for himself, announced he would be donating the money back to youth-led statewide network CT Students For A Dream to help undocumented student scholarships.

The program ended with a statement and closing prayer led by Crebbin, who shared that Newtown Congregational Church has been one of the host churches of this program alongside United Methodist Church and St Rose of Lima Church. Having seen young people go on work camps for nearly 30 years, Crebbin said that it has made a difference in not just their lives, but also the lives of countless others across the country.

He shared that everyone’s support has made it possible for NEWS workcampers to travel across the country, but more importantly to help those in lower income communities, many of whom are elderly or living on very fixed incomes.

“You made a difference today, so thank you all so much,” Crebbin said.

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Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.