Grace youth group, adults travel to Tennessee to work on houses in impoverished area
The youth group and adult chaperones from Grace Episcopal Church traveled to Tennessee earlier this month help residents who needed work done on their homes. "How important it is for kids who are blessed with a lot to be able to give and serve," youth group leader Kevin Pritchett said. (photos provided)
Copperhill, Tenn., was the site of one of the largest copper producing mines in the country in the early 1900s. By about 1920, however, the copper had been depleted and the environment had been destroyed.
"When that copper vein was mined out, the area was devastated economically. Copper mining was about all that they had," said Kevin Pritchett, volunteer leader of the senior high youth program at Grace Episcopal Church in Hinsdale.
While conservation efforts have restored the natural beauty of the area, the people who live in this small town on the Georgia border continue to struggle. And so, for the past two years, a group from Grace church has traveled there to help make their lives just a bit easier. Nine students and five adults spent the week of June 9-15 in the small town on a trip organized by a company called Team Effort.
The Grace participants worked with another group from Columbia, S.C., at a site with two modular homes. Volunteers painted both of the homes and built a deck at each.
Adult participant Mike Ascher said he enjoyed making the trip with his 15-year-old son, Hugh, who will be a junior this year at Nazareth Academy in LaGrange Park.
"It's great to spend time with him and see him grow and mature both in his civic and spiritual development and in leadership," Ascher said. "It's great. We had a wonderful time."
Getting to know the students on the trip and being in fellowship with other adult chaperones was gratifying, Ascher said. He also enjoyed the focus on spirituality and service.
"I didn't go on Twitter all week and it was awesome. It was fantastic," said Ascher, who has been attending Grace since his parents moved to Hinsdale in 1970 when he was a baby. "Being in service is a truly valuable experience whether you are 15 or 54."
Student leader Nathan Fisher, a rising senior at Lyons Township High School, said he was motivated to go on his first mission trip last year after hearing his older brother talk his experiences on trips he took with Grace's youth group.
"The stories I heard were fantastic," the 17-year-old lifelong member of Grace church said. "I jumped on it immediately because that is the kind of stuff that was something new to me and interesting and it ended up being one of the best weeks of my life."
Fisher said just raising the money required to participate - which totaled $12,000 for nine students - was an accomplishment. He also enjoyed showing the ropes to first-time participants in his role as a student leader.
"A lot of kids do not know what to do," Fisher said. "Stepping up and showing kids, 'Hey, this is how you hold a hammer,' 'Here's what we're doing here,' 'Here's how you hold a saw,' " he said. "You pick up very fast because you're doing a lot of stuff."
The group arrived in Tennessee on Sunday and first visited the work site on Monday. The second full day of work was pivotal, Fisher said.
"When we got to the work site Tuesday, we all worked super hard - and this was the whole group. Everybody was just working, working, working, working. It was a whole group event and we got a lot accomplished on Tuesday," he said. "The day really sparked the rest of the week for us, because that work ethic flowed into Wednesday and Thursday."
Grace participants were able to enjoy white water rafting and horseback riding Friday before heading home, Pritchett said. They also enjoyed several group dinners and outings.
"We found this ice cream place that had like a pint of ice cream for $4. It was great," Pritchett said. "We had a lot of fun as well as worked on some good projects."
Pritchett said he worked with students before the trip to prepare them for the work they would be doing and the approach they needed to embrace.
"I did a lot of prep with the kids for the trip, letting them know we are not going to drop our goodness on the people. More like we're going to help brothers and sisters who are in need, neighbors who are in need," Pritchett said.
Spending time with people who have so little helped Fisher, of Western Springs, see his own life as a suburban teen through a different lens.
"It really gives me a sense of gratitude, and it's gratitude to my parents, to the church, to Hinsdale, to Western Springs, to La Grange, to my schools," he said.
He and Pritchett both noticed the positive outlook of the residents they were helping.
"The people in Copperhill, they have found a way. They are happy. They are extraordinary. Everybody there has a great story to tell. It really connects me well with them. I bring that home and I can connect with my community," Fisher said.
Pritchett said some might not expect those living in poverty to have such an attitude.
"We would think these people had nothing," Pritchett said. "They were so contended, so serene. They were grateful for our help. They have a thing to teach us about serenity and how to live."
