WorkFest 2010 was a huge success: more than 400 college students served on 20 different jobsites throughout March, repairing homes, meeting the people of Appalachia and having a life-changing experience. Repeated over and over again during student reflection time was that students didnot want WorkFest to be an isolated time in their lives, but the beginning of a life of service that they would live back at their colleges and communities. And as happens at every WorkFest, some students felt a call to Appalachia that may bring them back to CAP after graduation to serve as long-term volunteers.
For more information about WorkFest 2010, including pictures from the jobsites, visit our WorkFest 2010 headquarters. As our Housing crews complete the jobs that the students began, we will post "after" pictures of many of the homes.
As CAP bid farwell to another WorkFest, we welcomed YouthFest 2010, an alternative spring break for high school students. During YouthFest, students from schools and churches from as far away as California come to eastern Kentucky to serve on painting, cleaning and yardwork projects for participants in CAP's Elderly Services program. Our long-term Elderly Services volunteers lead crews of students who provide some much-needed home and yard improvements that participants could not do themselves. More important, the students have the opportunity to visit with Appalachia's elderly and form relationships that will have a lasting impact on both students and participants. Some older teens will serve on Housing projects with our long-term construction volunteers.
As CAP continues to welcome high school students this April, we hope you will pray for everyone's safety on the jobsites and as they travel to and from Kentucky. As always, we ask that you keep Appalachia's elderly and low-income families in your daily prayers. Together, we can move mountains.
