Friday, March 06, 2009
Mission madness
Youth volunteers didn't know where they were headed, which added mystery to an afternoon of mission work.
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Kelly Wheeler (left), 12, and Alex Nordt, 14, help organize the food shelf at Presbyterian Community Center. More than 100 children participated in volunteer work Sunday at seven locations across the Roanoke Valley.
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On Sunday, more than 100 youths gathered from 10 different Presbyterian congregations at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Roanoke for lunch and an event called Mystery Mission Madness.
While munching on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, the teens wondered where the afternoon would lead them.
After all, not knowing where they would volunteer put the mystery into the mission work planned for that day.
Torren Nanz, an 18-year-old student at Hidden Valley High School, has been volunteering for years. He is also an Eagle Scout and built the furniture in the church's youth room as his project. Before knowing where he would be volunteering Sunday, Nanz said he looked forward to the day ahead, just hoping "to spend time with friends and do service."
After lunch, missions were assigned. Index cards representing each participant were placed on a grid, revealing each teen's destination. And off they went, headed to seven nonprofit locations: the Interfaith Hospitality Network, the Presbyterian Community Center, the Roanoke Rescue Mission, the Ronald McDonald House, the Salem Clothes Closet, the Transitional Living Center and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
The teenagers volunteered for two hours, from 2 to 4 p.m., and Mary MacMichael, the church's director of youth ministries and church activities, knew the organizations involved would benefit. But she stressed that the main idea behind this event was to establish relationships between the nonprofit organizations and tomorrow's community volunteers.
Sharon Dickenson, the Interfaith Hospitality Network coordinator for Covenant Presbyterian, acts as an adult volunteer for teenagers donating their time to the network.
Dickenson said the network combines the efforts of 30 churches to help the homeless on a weekly basis. Two of the churches transform their Sunday school classrooms into bedrooms for the displaced guests every week. Meals are provided by the host church and supported by other congregations in the network.
After Dickenson's volunteers set up cots and made each bedroom more welcoming, a representative from the Interfaith Hospitality Network talked to the teens about the agency and the people it regularly serves. The teens were surprised to learn how young many homeless people there are -- according to Family Promise, a nonprofit organization that oversees Interfaith Hospitality Networks nationwide, half of the guests of a typical IHN are children, most of whom are under age 6.
The Presbyterian Community Center already receives support from many local churches. Cheryl Poe, the volunteer coordinator, didn't need to give her volunteers too much information regarding their after-school programs or food pantry. Poe said that the teenagers visiting on Sunday generally straightened shelves and organized crafts.
Poe added that she hopes this experience will bring volunteers back as tutors for the center's younger participants.
Dickenson encouraged everyone visiting the Interfaith Hospitality Network to keep volunteering.
"I hope that this exposure has helped to break down some barriers and let the kids know that to be a volunteer all you need is a smile and willingness to help," she said.
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