Youth Group Travels Across the Country to Volunteer

June 27, 2008
Calvary Episcopal Church Youth Group Traveling nearly 3,000 miles from Summit, New Jersey, a youth group representing Calvary Episcopal Church volunteered at Episcopal Community Services during a summer trip to San Diego.

During their five day trip, thirteen 15- and 16-year old Episcopalians set aside two of those days to share their time revitalizing an ECS Head Start site for the upcoming school year. “We wanted to include ministry work while on this trip,” said the Rev. Laurie Matarrazo, the group’s leader. “We are just so glad to be able to help the community.”

Upon arriving at ECS’ Hammond Head Start site, the group divided into teams to manage various duties: while one team taped the room, another team mixed paint and organized supplies. After two full days of prepping and painting, the group had painted four large classrooms and an office. Even cabinet doors, shelves and window trim were given a fresh coat of paint.
In addition to their tireless work on the vacant classrooms, the Calvary youth group also shared lunch with a nearby Head Start class in order to fully appreciate the impact of their mission work.

“The teens are awesome,” said Rosetta Rodriguez, Head Teacher for the Hammond site. “We really appreciate the group coming out and helping us with the painting. This is a big job, and they were great.”