Labor of Love — High school students from Wisconsin visited the area to do mission work during Spring break. They are (front, from left) Jackie Turnel, Ali Mater, Katherine Hayes, Stacy Knutson, (back row) Ryan Carpenter, Wally Lehnhoff, Jason Butler, Bob Baldwin, homeowner Bessie Royal, Brad Salvwedel, Ben Brefka and Ben Glawe.

Wisconsin high school students volunteer in Alleghany during their Spring vacation

Baking in the sun is the thought of most youth when the words ‘spring break’ come to mind. However, for a group of youth from Wisconsin, spring break means lending a helping hand, even when it means traveling in a van for 15 hours one way to do so.

During the week of March 28 through April 1, a group of seven youth and two adults from the suburb of Milwalkee, along with Laurel Ridge Moravian Camp’s facilities manager, Bob Baldwin, helped make outdoor improvements to Bessie Royal’s Laurel Springs home.

The members of the Community United Methodist Church in Elm Grove submerged on Royal’s home on Tuesday morning, according to 16-year-old Ben Glawe.

“We came here to do mission work,” Glawe said. “It’s been fun, and it feels good.”

Teammate 15-year-old Wally Lehenhoff agrees.

“It’s probably one of the funest things I’ve done in a while,” he said. Lehenhoff added that the group had been working on a wheelchair ramp on one end of the home and a set of stairs on the other.

Ben Brefka and Ali Mater, 15, had their first taste of mission work last week.

“It’s been really fun,” Brefka said. “You’re having fun while helping other people.”

Mater stated she participated because she thought she would enjoy the experience.

Katherine Hayes and Jason Butler have returned to participate in mission trips because they are “fun,” they said. Butler added, “When you look at everything you have, it’s not hard to make a big change.” Jackie Trumel, 17, has been participating in the spring break mission trips at Community United Methodist Church in Elm Grove for the past two years.

“It’s the biggest event of our church probably,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun. I just love the look on people’s faces when they see how their new house looks.”

After Trumel told her friends of her experiences with the mission camps, she commented that they decided to attend their own church’s mission camps as well.

“It’s a great way to spend a week, I think,” Trumel added. “You get a lot closer to people in the group.”

Group chaperone Stacy Knutson commented that participating in a spring break mission trip has been a yearly church activity for several years. The Wisconsin team learned of the mission camp in Alleghany through Chuck Harberg, who serves as a visitation pastor for the Community United Methodist Church.

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