Work camps to offer free home repairs this summer

NORTH BERWICK, Maine - As many as 70 local residents will benefit from the work of 400 adult and teenage volunteers at the Table of Plenty Workcamp coming to Noble High School and Southern York County from July 27 to Aug. 2.

The Work camp will provide free home repairs through the Group Cares (formerly Group Workcamps Foundation) program, sponsored locally by the Table of Plenty and the Parish of the Ascension of the Lord.

Group Cares is a non-profit, interdenominational Christian volunteer home-repair organization headquartered in Loveland, Colo. This summer, an anticipated 25,000 young people and adults will participate in 48 work camps in communities across the United States and Canada.

At each work camp, teenagers and adults - all members of church youth groups -volunteer a week of their time to repair homes throughout the community.

“This represents about 12,000 hours of volunteer labor, with a total economic impact to the community of more than $300,000,” said Michelle Valcourt, Youth Minister of the Parish of the Ascension of the Lord of Kittery.

“These really are remarkable young people,” said Jeff Thompson, of Group Cares. “Each one is actually paying for the privilege of working in your community. Workcamp registration fees are used to cover our costs for food, insurance, and building materials.”

The work camp will be housed at Noble High School, North Berwick, with work campers sleeping on classroom floors, eating in the cafeteria, and enjoying evening programs in the gym.

“This service to the community would be impossible without the wonderful cooperation of the Noble High School, Principal Joseph Findlay and Superintendent Steve Connolly,” remarked Valcourt.

Group Cares will reimburse all costs to the lodging facility.

The Table of Plenty has teamed up with the Parish of the Ascension of the Lord to make this camp possible.  The Table of Plenty is the local soup kitchen for York, Kittery and Berwick. The Table of Plenty serves hundreds of residents every week at three different locations. You do not need to qualify for the meal and as their website states:  “We strive to ease not only physical, but also emotional hunger. We welcome those who are lonely or lost, who feel forgotten, or would appreciate the fellowship of others.” 

 The idea behind the work camps started in Colorado in 1977 when residents suffered from the Big Thompson River flood in which hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed and over 140 people lost their lives. Church youth groups of many different denominations came from across the country the next summer to help. In 1978, the program went nationwide to include other disadvantaged areas throughout the country. This summer’s 48 Work camps will take place in many different states, including but not limited to Maine, Alabama, West Virginia, Montana, North Carolina, New Jersey Pennsylvania, Utah, Illinois, New York, Tennessee, and Minnesota. Now in its 34th year of service, Group Cares has hosted over a quarter of a million participants who have provided more than six million hours of volunteer service directly to people in need.

Repairs offered through the Work camp include interior and exterior painting, weatherization, porch and wheelchair ramp construction, and other work. Residents interested in applying to receive assistance may contact Michelle Valcourt at 207-439-0442 or mail in an application. All homes must be owned and within a thirty minute drive of Noble High School in North Berwick. Applications are also available at Lebanon Town Offices on Upper Guinea Road.

A pdf file application can also be found at http://www.pal-me.org/documents/Application%20online.pdf.