Since the ninth grade, a group of Clarkston teenagers spent part of each summer around the country helping others.
Now Clarkston High School seniors, their Righteous Mission trips with Clarkston United Methodist Church took them from rural Tennessee, where they slept in tents, to innercity Chicago, where they worked with the Salvation Army to help the homeless.
Their senior trip, however, will require less travel time ? they’re volunteering at Covenant House, a Detroit homeless shelter for young adults.
“For our senior year, I thought we might go somewhere cooler,” said Kaitlyn Warzybok. “But after thinking about it, I thought, what better way for our senior trip than to help the community right in front of us.”
“We’ll be helping out closer to home,” said Davis Vanderveen.
They don’t need to look far for people in need, said Greg Martin, youth director.
“We felt, with the economy, Detroit is ground zero,” Martin said. “There are so many things can be done to help. Four or five projects can help hundreds of people. We can’t fix Detroit, but we can help out.”
The teens work hard on their trips, volunteering at soup kitchens and homeless shelters, and making repairs for those unable.
“It’s a good experience,” Warzybok said. “At the homeless shelter, we eat lunch with people, help wash laundry ? they were very appreciative.”
Not afraid to get dirty, they even volunteered to clean grease traps and behind the stove at a soup kitchen.
“We had to clean the gunk out of it,” said Holly Degen. “It was a moving experience. I felt like I was floating out of my body.”
“It was the grossest thing I have ever seen,” said Collette Noble. “There were mouse traps with rats in them ? disgusting.”
But it was important to set an example for younger members of the group, Noble said.
“We normally don’t do these things,” said Maria Warner. “But it was a good feeling.”
“We do a variety of things to help out,” Degen said. “No matter what you do, you get good experience, you’re different than what you were before, knowing you helped someone.”
At a trip to Tennessee, one job was to replace a roof, even though they had no roofing experience.
“We were working on the roof laying shingles when it started to rain,” said Davis Vanderveen. “We were working on the bottom layer. When it gets wet, it gets slick, so we had to quickly cover with tarps. We both almost fell off the roof.”
Working on it the whole week, they finished with one hour to spare, Martin said.
“They were really grateful. They cried on the last day,” Degen said.
“It’s an experience you can’t get at school, spiritually,” Mike said. “In Clarkston, we’ve in a very secluded town. This teaches us about the world outside Clarkston, experience what the world is like.”
“It’s a chance to take time away from everything else and spend time with God, and get closer to him,” said Maria Warner.
Nate Schultz helped build a deck with ramp for a woman caring for her adult son, who has autism.
“It feels good to help people,” Schultz said.
“It helps people who are more disadvantaged that we are,” said Liz Abel. “It’s a good thing to do.”
“At first, it was something expected of us to do,” VanderVeen said. “But we came back because we enjoy spending time together and helping people we don’t know.”
The Righteous Mission group hosts a spaghetti dinner fundraiser, March 21, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra fundraiser, April 18. The trip is set for July 12-18.