Fourteen-year-old Eliana Dintelmann says her dad told her that volunteering again this summer for Group Workcamp would be a good experience.
Turns out he was right, Dintelmann says.
Dintelmann was among the nearly 400 young people and adults from 13 states who volunteered to take part in this week’s Group Workcamp in the area.
Coordinated by River City Community Development Corp., Group Workcamp volunteers undertook free home repair projects at 50 homes across Perquimans, Pasquotank and Camden counties. Volunteers scraped off old paint and replaced it with fresh new paint, built new wheelchair ramps and porches and fixed ones that were damaged.
Group Workcamp volunteers arrived on Sunday and began work on 50 home repair projects on Monday morning.
“My crew is building a wheelchair ramp for a resident and we almost have it done,” Dintelmann said Wednesday. “We’ve been working on the same project for the last couple of days. We have been moving fast to the point we ran out of materials.”
Despite the excessive heat and humidity, Dintelmann, who is from Belleville, Illinois, and was taking part in her third workcamp, said she and other workcampers were enjoying the work.
“There are times when reflecting on it is hard, because working in the heat is hard,” she said. “But it’s nice to have something to do and not be cooped up inside.”
About the only hitch for Dintelmann came late Wednesday afternoon, when the kayak she was in accidentally tipped over, sending her splashing into the Pasquotank River. At the time, Dintelmann and other workcampers were taking some time off from their work, enjoying a fun day of activities hosted by Mid-Atlantic Christian University.
“The river was not frigid, it’s actually nice,” Dintelmann said. “I’m usually really steady in canoes and don’t topple over. Just as the two (people) on shore released me in the kayak, I couldn’t seem to stay steady.”
Group Workcamp is organized by Group Mission Trips, a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian volunteer home-repair organization based in Fort Collins, Colorado, to assist veterans and low-income and disabled homeowners. Group Workcamp partners with local organizations like River City CDC to put on the annual summer workcamps.
River City CDC received 115 applications from home owners in January requesting the Group Workcamp’s assistance this week. The nonprofit chose 50 applicants in Pasquotank, Camden and Perquimans to receive the free work.
Dot Franklin was one of the Elizabeth City residents whose home was selected for a workcamp project. Late Tuesday afternoon, she’d memorized many of the names of youths working on her property. They were placing rails outside her door and improving stairs to her storage unit.
“They have been working diligently. They work as a hard-working team. It’s just amazing how teamwork makes the team work,” she said.
Franklin said she was “very thankful” that River City CDC had partnered with Group Mission Trips to help make the “repairs that I could not afford to make.”
“I hope they have a nice time while they are here because we are glad to see them,” she said of the workcampers.
MACU and River City CDC hoped Wednesday’s fun day would help show the workcampers how much the area appreciates them. Ray Scaffa was one of the MACU representatives guiding workcampers from one campus activity to the other.
“MACU had a ‘thank-you’ celebration for the youths and adults who paid $548 to come work on homes of elderly, veterans, (and the) disabled,” he said. “We are showing them some fun (activities, including) kayaking, sailing, movies and some art work inside.”
Mary Felton, manager of the River City’s Youthbuild program, said the nonprofit was pleased that MACU decided to host the fun day for workcampers.
“Youths came in from different states — Louisiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Virginia,” she said. “All the activities they (MACU) could provide shows you just how powerful partnerships are.”
Local Wisconsin State
Most Popular
Comments / 0