After the work day was done, the teens assembled in the Catholic high school for communal meals and to dance and sing with Christian musicians, perform skits and give testimony to their faith before lights out for an evening spent on an air mattress in a classroom.
"The last night, the seniors they helped came," Easton remembered. "They came in crying; they gave [the teens] all hugs."
The Catholic Heart Workcamp program was founded in 1993 by youth ministers from Winter Park, Fla. as an alternative to secular youth work camps.
Easton declared, "It was wonderful. All the events were geared towards our faith. The teens really formed a bond with the other teens and the people they served."
The St. Pius X teen team consisted of Meghan Easton, Jade Gunshefski, Gabe Knipp, Dan McAvoy, Brenna Nelson, Jared Phillips, Jackie Rice, Barry Timony and Regan Traxinger.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
Despite the hard work in 95-degree temperatures, they were enthusiastic about the week's labors. "They were transformed in that one six-day experience," said Jeanne Easton.
"On the way home, they all asked when they could go back."
Posted with permission from
The Monitor. Official newspaper for the diocese of Trenton, New Jersey.
