From Mary: (February 7, 2012)
Dear People Interested in the April Work Trip,
I am now able to give you more details about the 13th annual Norwich Congregational Church Youth Work Trip: The trip will begin on Friday, April 13, when we board a bus in the McDonald’s parking lot in West Lebanon, NH early in the morning. We will travel all day and spend the night at a church in or near Harrisonburg, VA.
The next day, Saturday, April 14, we will drive to an overnight stop at a motel near Gadsden, AL. The following morning, we will drive to Greenville, AL to worship with the congregation of Friendship AME Zion Church. They are an African American church founded in the 1800’s. Their rebuilding project started in 2007 but has been delayed for several years. With the help of volunteer teams like us and others they hope to finish this year. The roof will go up this month, and the interior framing/sheet rocking would be our job. We will have some experienced workers with us, who can teach and direct the work for the rest. We will be staying at another facility, perhaps a school, in Greenville.
Our work week will begin on Monday, April 16th. We will work four (4) full days and maybe a half day on Friday. We will still have plenty of time for recreation, possibly visiting a local state park. We will be cooking our own meals for the most part, with teams rotating through the week. I expect that our host churches will also provide us with some meals.
We will leave the Greenville area on Friday, April 20, visit a state park for a few hours, then drive on to a motel. My hope is to get a head start on the trip home so that we can have a little time the end of the next day, Saturday, seeing some sights in Washington, DC. Christ Church Congregational will host us again on April 21, then we will head home on Sunday, April 22, arriving in West Lebanon by the end of the day.
Some of the participants have been on these work trips before. They know that we have fun, are challenged, and see a new part of the world. If you have no experience in building, you will learn new skills. We are warmly welcomed by our host churches and always make new friends there. The music is great. We hope to include new fellow workers, both from the Norwich Congregational Church and others.
I am happy to answer questions from teenagers or parents. I have registration forms for those who are interested. With the registration forms and the code of conduct form, please include a check for $100 made out to the Norwich Congregational Church. This will hold your place on the trip. For those coming as part of the Norwich Congregational Church Youth Group, participation in fundraising is essential. For those coming from other churches, or those who are unaffiliated we hope that you can contribute an additional $300 per person through fundraising. We do not turn anyone away who cannot afford the trip. Each participant also needs to bring money to purchase some of their own meals on the bus trip, about seven (7) meals worth.
There will be more planning meetings when we get closer to the trip. I will send more information to those who register.
Please get in touch if you have questions: Mary Brownlow: mary_brownlow (at) yahoo.com
We are planning on the trip taking place April Vacation week, April 13-22 2012
