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Love and home improvement at WorkCamp

Ashleigh Kassock | Catholic Herald

A WorkCamp adult leader talks with residents attending lunch with their crews on the last day of WorkCamp at Massaponax High School. ASHLEIGH KASSOCK | CATHOLIC HERALD

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WorkCamp crews used a variety of construction materials to showcase this year’s WorkCamp theme “Walk Humbly with your God. Crew 51’s creation won first place in this year’s competition. ASHLEIGH KASSOCK | CATHOLIC HERALD

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WorkCamper Mary Pattillo sings along with friends during the program session of WorkCamp in the Massaponax High School gym. ASHLEIGH KASSOCK | CATHOLIC HERALD

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After working side by side with complete strangers for a week,
crews welcomed the residents of their worksites, now lifelong friends, to a
special lunch on the last day of WorkCamp. More than 30 residents and their
families came to thank their crews for all their hard work and for the love
they received over the past week.

 

They received an outpouring of thanks in return from their crews who would not have been able to have the WorkCamp experience if the residents had not opened their homes to them. 

During Friday’s program both residents and crews gave emotional testimonials in front of the whole group which witnessed to the powerful effect WorkCamp has on both sides. 

“We had a wonderful experience,” said one of the residents. “They came as strangers but they left as family.”

There were many tearful goodbyes between the two groups as they said their final farewells and promised to keep in touch. Some of the residents even invited their crews to come back and visit anytime.

 

“When we got here I just thought we were coming down for a week
to do construction projects for people in need in the community but it’s much
more than that,” said adult leader Mark Dargis. “We were getting together in
parish groups for spiritual discussions, we were going to Mass every day, we
had what I call the Catholic rock concert every night, the evening program
where all 1200 people get into the gym at one time and sing songs and listen to
inspirational stories and talk about the difficulties of keeping your faith in
modern times. It was truly unexpected, something I really hadn’t planned on
experiencing.” 

After three years in the Massaponax area WorkCamp will be moving
next summer to a new location to bring the WorkCamp experience to a new area in
need of a little love and home improvement. 

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