Community Changers summer outreach program
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Volunteer work crews from Community Changers, a summer outreach program of the Welsh Neck Baptist Association, fanned out across Darlington County and neighboring towns last week, with over 100 volunteers from 18 churches taking on home repair and improvement projects for families in need.
“This is the eighth year of Community Changers, and it has grown tremendously,” says Pastor Frankie Tanner of Mechanicsville Baptist Church. “We’re excited about next year. We’ve already developed a theme and we hope it will be even bigger and better.”
Community Changers traditionally teams youth volunteers with adult supervisors who have experience with construction and home repair, and these teams – with about a 60/40 ratio of kids to adults – take on projects ranging from roof replacement to building wheelchair ramps. The visiting youth camp at Mechanicsville Baptist Church and, after their workdays end, they enjoy fellowship, cookouts, and fishing trips to relax and reflect on the unusual and worthwhile way they spent part of their summer vacation.
Volunteers did landscaping, pressure washing, painting, carpentry, and screen replacements to help a housebound mother in hospice care and her caregiver son.
