Illinois youth help local residents through Salem Youth Invasion

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Salem, Illinois

For the third year, Grace Church of the Nazarene in Salem, Illinois, coordinated a "Youth Invasion." During this year's four-day event, 70 youth completed 40 cleaning and construction projects for local elderly or fixed-income families.

Assisted by almost 40 adults, the youth did yard work, cleaned gutters, and power-washed homes, in addition to construction jobs such as completing porch repairs, building new stairs for a basement, building wheelchair ramps, repairing shed roofs, ceiling fan instillation, and faucet installation. The youth also painted two houses.

Participants also completed a few projects they developed over the years known as the Water Ministry, Cookie Deliveries, and Sidewalk Prophecy. For Water Ministry, the youth attach scripture verses to bottles of water and hand them out to people working outside. Teens on Cookie Delivery bake cookies and then deliver them to families or individuals who need a visit. During the Sidewalk Prophecy project, students go all over town and use chalk to write scripture verses on roads and sidewalks in large letters.

"It is fair to say that the whole town is talking about Youth Invasion by the week's end," said Angela Courtright, Salem Youth Invasion coordinator.

In the past two years, the project has served more than 100 different families and individuals. A $40 registration fee for the students covers the cost of the materials.

 

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