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Local youth work to make an ‘Impact’ during summer break

By MICHAEL J. THOMPSON
mthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

When school lets out for the summer, many students spend their time swimming, going on vacations with family or lounging around watching television. Many wait until noon or later to finally wake up to start the day.

For more than 160 area students, waking up at 7 a.m. each day was the norm as they volunteered their time last week to help with Impact 2005.

Last Tuesday the week-long event began, with 10 local churches volunteering to help with area projects.

Lisa Green, youth director at Brooks Methodist Church and coordinator of Impact 2005, said that the students helped clean up disabled people’s homes, paint, do repair work and provide other services for people around Fayette County.

“We’ve completed over 40 projects this week,” Green said Friday. “These kids have been amazing, dedicating their time to help people they don’t know and their community.”

Kids from age 12 to adults have helped with the program, with the adults on hand to supervise. The majority of those volunteering have been youth. “It’s great to see so many denominations working together to help people in the community,” Green said.

She noted that contrary to many peoples views on teenagers as being selfish, these students are acting as disciples going out and helping others and performing outreach to the community.

“They’re learning to be great citizens, doing something for others to make a difference,” she said.

On the last day of the event, the Impact event was at the YMCA Huiet Park in Fayetteville. More than 160 students helped reseal the playground structures, as they had become faded.

Patrick McLaughlin, 14, was helping spread the paint over a bridge at the park. He said that he was there to help give back to the community that gives so much to him.

Daniel Sandlefur, 11, said that it not for the event he would be home playing Nintendo.

“But I’m here to serve the Lord and help the community and I’m having a lot of fun,” he said.

The work at Huiet Park took roughly five hours to complete.

This is the second year Impact has transpired, as it is the brainchild of David Clark of SquareFoot Ministries.

The churches involved in the event were: Brooks United Methodist; Christ Our Shepard Lutheran; Edgefield Baptist; Fayette Methodist; Fayette Presbyterian; Fayette Christian Church; Flat Creek Baptist; Inman United Methodist; North Fayette Methodist; Peachtree City Methodist; Peachtree Presbyterian; Point South Community Church; U-Night 17 Church; and Peachtree City Christian Church.