By TARA HETTINGER
NEW ALBANY — Taking a break from painting the porch outside St. Elizabeth Catholic Charities’ building for young, single and pregnant or new mothers, 14-year-old Ryan Carter can see what her volunteering is going toward.
She got to meet a 14-year-old, living in the home with her child.
“I know I could’ve been like that had I chosen a different road for myself,” Carter said, her eyes wide in disbelief. “It’s scary. It’s all up to me. It’s a choice.”
Carter, who is from Texas, is one of about 12,000 teenagers volunteering throughout the nation and Jamaica as part of Catholic Heart Workcamp, said Kim Zamastil, camp manager for the Louisville area.
The camp, which started in 1993, takes place in various cities, with each camper going for a week. The total of 45 camp sessions takes up nine weeks of summer, Zamastil said.
“It’s an opportunity for youth to get together and share their faith and to live it out by doing social work” Zamastil said.
“I think it’s a blessing,” said Meara Grannan, social service director with St. Elizabeth. “They’re helping us get some of the extras we aren’t able to tend to right away.”
Six 14- to 15-year-olds worked on painting at St. Elizabeth this week. Other groups worked throughout the Louisville area, doing home repairs, spending time with residents in retirement homes, picking up trash in parks and more. All the local campers — 265 in all — are staying at Highland Hills Middle School, sleeping on the floor, Zamastil said.
Zamastil said campers are separated from people they know and sent to different cities so that it takes them out of their comfort zone and allows them a chance to meet new people.
The idea seems to be working.
“It’s a fun way to be with other kids and make new friends,” said 15-year-old Ashlie Knipe, who is from Illinois. “It’s actually kind of fun. It’s like a huge sleepover.
“... [And] it feels good to help people that really need and deserve it.”
Carla Farley, who is supervising the group at St. Elizabeth, said this project gives teenagers a unique opportunity.
“By the time they leave, they see it differently and they are motivated to go out and do things in their community,” she said. “And when we do something for someone else, we are repeating God’s love for us.”
The Louisville camp goes through Saturday, according to the Web site. The last two camps, in New Jersey and Texas, end Aug. 8.
SO YOU KNOW
• For more information, call 407-678-0073 or go to heartworkcamp.com
