A couple of weeks ago was Camp AJ’s “Party for the Health of It” teen day camp. Richie (a CAP employee) and I wrote a grant for an organization called Promise Neighborhoods that has a ton of money to spend in Jackson County, especially on programs for children. For the camp, the kids planned a party, including menu and decorations, and were able to go shopping at Kohl’s to buy a nice party outfit that they could later use for church or a job interview.

Thanks to the grant, each teen got $100 to spend. It was a lot of fun helping them pick out outfits. Shopping is pretty great when you’re not spending your own money and don’t have to try on the clothes. For some of the teens, this was their first time being able to buy an entire outfit. They all looked really great at the party, but it was interesting how obviously uncomfortable some of them were in their new clothes. In order to show the Promise Neighborhood people what we had spent their money on, I asked each of the teens if I could take a picture of them in their new clothes. A lot of them really didn’t want me to take their picture, and one wouldn’t even look at the camera.

On Friday, the camp went to Flat Lick Falls, a waterfall in Jackson County, to help with the landscaping. The waterfall used to be privately owned, but the man who owned it moved away and sold the land to the county, with the stipulation that they turn it into a public park. We started the day by reading to them fromThe Giving Tree, doing the same devotion that I did with the fourth graders. I expected that the book would not be quite as well received with the teens as it was with the younger kids, but much to my surprise, they were just as enthralled. It’s pretty incredible how a good book can completely captivate an audience.

Naturally, the teens were not terribly enthusiastic about doing community service. They complained the entire way to Flat Lick Falls, and one girl even went so far as to attempt to find someone to pick her up so she wouldn’t have to come. She tried many different strategies to get out of going, including asking why we’d bother planting flowers when people would just trample on them. I was pretty sure I was going to strangle her before we even got to the falls. Shockingly, when we actually started planting flowers, she was the hardest worker. Every time I turned around she was digging a hole, watering a plant, or spreading mulch. I could not believe how different her actions were from everything that she’d been saying. I told her probably ten times that I was incredibly impressed with her. I don’t know if she was complaining so much because she thought it was the “cool” thing to do and actually didn’t mind doing the work, or if she really didn’t want to do anything then came to appreciate it, but I hope that the experience taught her something about service and hard work.

“You can preach a better sermon with your life than with your lips.” – Oliver Goldsmith

Erin C. is a long-term volunteer in Educational and Recreational Programming. She is a member of the Jackson Volunteer Community.