Hitchcock Youth Do Mission Work

From Scotland to Texas, from Haiti to Maryland, the youth group at Hitchcock Presbyterian Church has travelled across the country and the globe. This year, from June 27 to July 2, eleven youths, three youth leaders, and the pastor of Hitchcock Church travelled to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania to do mission work. While in Mechanicsburg, the group worked with two local charities: Mission Central and Project SHARE.

Instead of staying at a hotel or paying for living arrangements, The Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church offered the group housing in one of the homes it owns. For the duration of the trip, the fifteen-member group lived in the almost fully furnished home. The girls slept on one air mattress in one bedroom while the boys slept in the basement. Each day, the group woke up at 7:30 am, got dressed, made breakfast, packed lunch, and was ready to leave the house and drive to work by 9:00 am.

On Monday July 28, the first day of work, the youth group arrived at Mission Central, a warehouse that supplies charities and mission groups with donated goods. Upon arriving, the group was presented with several Gaylord’s (pallet size box used for storage and shipping) and given the task to sort, package, and label the supplies. While some people worked on sorting and packaging, others focused their attention on preparing flood buckets, kits that are used for disaster relief. Except for an hour-long lunch break, the group worked nonstop-from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon. After the day was over, the group travelled back and spent the rest of the day bonding by cooking dinner and playing recreational games.

On day two, the group completed the work they had started and moved on to preparing friendship kits for the homeless and sorting through cards for Mission Central to sell in its store. Once their work was complete, they went to a home that houses people with developmental disabilities. The group grilled dinner and socialized with the residents of the home. Once everyone had eaten their fill of hamburgers and hotdogs, everyone moved inside and the residents of the home gave the youth group a tour. A few hours were spent playing bingo and Wii until 8:30 arrived and it was time for the residents to prepare for bed.

On the third day, the youth group moved onto a new organization Project SHARE, a food bank that provides groceries for people below the poverty level in Carlisle County Pennsylvania. While some kids helped weed and plant flowers, others sorted and packaged bread. By the end of the group’s two days at Project SHARE, they had managed to package around twenty four thousand rolls. These rolls, along with other grocery items are distributed the third week of every month. In addition, the organization serves fresh produce daily- on a given month it will serve around a thousand recipients. After their work at Project SHARE was done for the day, the youth group went back to the house to relax then went to Mechanicsburg Presbyterian Church for dinner. A few women from that church prepared a dinner of Sloppy Joes, pasta, and salad to show their hospitality and gratitude. The trip ended with an evening of fun at Hershey Park.

According to Anna Sherman, a rising senior at SHS “[The trip] was a fun experience…where I got to work in a warehouse and have the warm feeling of helping people.” Taylor Yu, a rising sophomore at SHS, spoke about the gratification that she gets from service. “ The mission trip was an amazing experience and a fantastic way to combine fun and charitable work. I definitely had a great time and I am really proud of all the help we gave.”

Kailyn Amory wrote this article and this was her third mission trip.