Workcamp Volunteers Take "Love Thy Neighbor" to Heart

Some kids spend their summer swimming at the pool or eating ice cream with their friends, but for a week in July, a throng of young volunteers band together to renovate houses for members of their local community.

Gatekeepers Workcamp is a program sponsored by Lakeside Church where kids from grades 6 to 12 volunteer to learn handy skills and, as the website describes, “provide free home repairs for homeowners who are unable to maintain their homes because of financial or physical limitations.” It ran for the 35th consecutive year this week with about 50 youth and 30 adults volunteering on crews.

“I really recommend this to everybody, if you have any handy skills or you want to learn handy skills,” said Sophie Bristow-Smith, a third-year participant. “I like the demolition parts. I like the nail gun, all the power tools. But mostly I just like helping people, you know?”

The camp is a great opportunity for kids to work as a team while getting real, hands-on experience in fixing up a house. They are guided by adult volunteers who supervise and teach them throughout the week.

One such adult, Susan Schrader, who is also a Deacon at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, said her favorite part of the experience was “seeing the kids all get along and working so hard.”

Though much of their work has been outside in the heat, Schrader said the team was doing their best to stay hydrated and not get overheated.

“[We’re] drinking plenty of liquids, taking a little rest when we need to. And then we start earlier so that we can end a little bit earlier in the day, also,” Shrader said.

“We just take water breaks every, like, fifteen minutes,” Catherine Cobb, a fifth-year participant agreed.

Though Cobb said she enjoyed the whole experience, the last day holds a special place in her heart.

“My favorite part is probably Friday,” she explained, “when we do the blessing of the house because usually we all pray together with the homeowner, give them a gift.”

Many of the kids expressed enjoying the sense of community that comes with working on such a big project together and creating a positive impact for a local homeowner.

Cate Pawers said she loved “meeting people, and coming together to help and fix houses.”

However, another highlight was a common theme among many of the volunteers, old and young.

“I love painting,” said Pawers. “It just kind of helps the house come together and make it look better.”

Petrina Page, a fourth-year adult volunteer and one of the crew supervisors, echoed the sentiment. “I’m in home renovation, so this is what I do … as one of my coworkers said, paint is God’s design. Turns old things into new.”

Though for these kids the experience only lasts a week, the gift to homeowners may last years after the work is finished. Their homes have been washed, repainted, redecorated, fixed up in many other ways and blessed with the goodwill of the community.

Page said the kids were truly a joy to work with.

“This has probably been one of the best crews I’ve had so far, and I love it. Whenever you tell them to do anything, they go right to doing it,” Page said. “So it’s been an awesome experience.”