Down
& Dirty in Dover
In the summer of 2010, thirteen teens and advisors from Zion joined 30 others from Trinity
Lutheran Church, Dover and Grace Lutheran Church, Mendham to spend 3 days in
Dover, New Jersey. We brought with us
supplies collected by our Social Ministry committee for Faith Kitchen and the
Veterans Home.
The first night, after a barbeque in a local park, we spent the night in the
church, sleeping on pews and enjoying each other’s company. The next morning we divided into three
groups. Each group would spend one day
at Faith Kitchen preparing meals for the 100 plus guests each day, visiting
with the guests, painting, and cleaning up.
Each group would also spend one day at a local Habitat for Humanity home
doing construction and landscaping and then spend another day at the local
Veterans home cleaning rooms, painting, landscaping, and preparing a foundation
for a new shed. We all learned a lesson or two from the conversations
with the amazing people we met those 3 days.
After work each day we were treated to a 2 hour trip to a local water park to
cool off, relax, and hang out. There’s
nothing better than a lazy river after an exhausting day of work! One night we had a campfire (with smores!) in
a church member’s backyard. Another
evening we hosted a Bingo night and dinner at a Senior Citizens center.
The whole trip was a lot of fun, learning, and service packed into a short
amount of time. We all made lots of
friends and learned a bunch from the people we met and the different conditions
that they were living in. It was very
successful and YOZ is looking forward to a sequel to Down & Dirty in Dover
– 2011’s Hot & Hungry in Hunterdon!
Hot & Hungry in Hunterdon
TIna Dornbusch reported daily on all the action:
Day 1 - Sunday, July 24, 2011
For months, there has been talk of a youth service program called "Hot and Hungry in Hunterdon" this summer. Today, the program officially started. After gathering at the CEB, we made our way to the Talis house. We may have been off to a rocky start, with people getting lost on their way, but the party was filled with fun. Upon arriving back at the CEB, there was a worship service with the "Made to Praise" band. Just to add to the excitement, we even got to set down our music for a song! After a quick orientation, we all continued on to "quiet" activities until we went to sleep. Of course, I must here emphasize my use of quotations around the word quiet; there was some disagreement as to whether these qualified.
Tomorrow, we will split up in to groups to begin our service--or, as Pastor would say, our Kingdom Work. But for tonight, it's time to get as much sleep as possible before that begins.
Day 2 - Monday, July 25, 2011
"Hot and Hungry" got off to a great start today as the four groups were sent off to their respective work sites. At the Faith Kitchen, the green group made tacos and sorted the food donations. The guests were talkative and willing to share life stories, mottos, and a quick Spanish lesson. Afterward, they made their way to the Veteran's Home, helping to sand and paint. At the Habitat for Humanity site, the red group worked hard at relaying a sidewalk, putting in bolts for a deck, installing cabinet blocks, moving haybales, and digging dirt for a foundation. Sue was very excited about her chance to use a power saw. Over at the Good News Home, the orange group split up into two sections. The first group worked on pulling weeds near the garden area. The second worked on cleaning out a barn, filling an entire dumpster with what they cleared out. At the Brady Life Camp, the blue group got the chance to eat lunch with the campers and learn about the foundation of the camp. They also painted sheds for the camp. Toward the end of the work period, a rainstorm began, stopping our plans to go to Round Valley Reservoir. Instead, we visited the Talis house once more, using their outdoor shower to quickly clean up. After, we returned to the CEB for a short presentation about Matheny School and a campfire. There were plenty of old camp songs sung, and Pastor gave a special performance of his "Stupid Magic Tricks". They were, as Megan puts it, "groundbreaking". Tonight, we all hope to get more sleep than last night to prepare for the big day of work ahead of us.
Day 3 - Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Today was a successful third day of
"kingdom work" at five separate locations. At the Good News Home, the green group were
busy with clearing out more forgotten belongings to be taken to an overfull
dumpster. They also cleared out
overgrown patches of garden area. The
blue group was off to Habitat for Humanity, working with people from Johnson
& Johnson. They put shingles on the
roof, removed a bad beam and its cement footing, and exposed
their inability to measure when they attempted to install a kick
plate as Sue used a table saw. The
campers were very excited to see our red group at Brady Life Camp, even rapping
to greet them. The volunteers then
worked on organizing excess Christmas presents and painting the art building. The orange group fed tuna hoagies, fruit, and
deviled eggs to 85 people at the Faith Kitchen as well as getting a chance to
have conversation with some of the guests. They also worked at cleaning. At the Veteran's Home, they worked around the
house as well as bringing 2 dozen cupcakes for the dessert. Lou was in a talkative mood, discussing his
experiences of growing up in Canada and being a tank driver in the Korean War. After this work was done, the groups made our
way over to Round Valley Reservoir to swim and shower. Dinner was next, and then a trip to Matheny
School for a music presentation. All the
kids felt thoroughly embarrassed by the multiple camp songs which
they were called to the front to present. Miraculously, we avoided getting caught in the
brewing storm and were able to finish our time at Matheny on a good note. Now, of course, it's time for bed; we still
have plenty of work ahead of us tomorrow.
Day 4 - Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Today, the last day of "Hot and Hungry" was a very successful one. At Brady Life Camp, the green group finished painting a sound booth as well as the arts and crafts shed, exceeding the expectations of those who run the camp. The blue group was at the Faith Kitchen, cooking a lunch of hot dogs for their guests. They also worked at washing the walls both upstairs and downstairs and cleaning the kitchen. The red and orange groups both were delivering the food we have collected (over one ton!) in two separate caravans. We delivered to the Fisherman's Mark Food Pantry in Lambertville, the Open Cupboard Food Pantry in Clinton, the Flemington Area Food Pantry, the Frenchtown Food Pantry, the Hampton Food Pantry, and the North Hunterdon Community Food Pantry in Glen Gardener. After our work, we headed to the Good News Home for Women to have lunch and listen to the moving testimonies of the women who live there. We came back to the CEB for a final worship, listing all the things we were thankful for.
So, to sum up our work: Thirty-seven youth gathered to serve at four locations. As I said, we literally gathered over a ton of food. Collectively, our group spent a total of 1,092 hours of service.
If I may, I believe that I will
declare "Hot and Hungry" a success!