Laurel Ridge Moravian Camp Making A Difference In Ashe By Fawn Roark The Laurel Ridge Moravian Camp is underway again in Ashe and Alleghany Counties and last week several local projects were completed by youth from across the area. Laurel Ridge Moravian Camp participants worked on several projects at Ashe Park and throughout the county last week including building a ramp and a deck on the park office and at restrooms. Photos by Fawn Roark The camp participants also created this butterfly garden at Ashe Park. Project Coordinator Debbie Good-Erickson said the youth are ages 11-18 and worked on 11 work sites in Ashe and Alleghany Counties last week. The campers pay a camp fee, which helps purchase supplies and materials for the projects. Kids from Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Raleigh and other areas have been spending the week in the area making a difference. “The kids seem to love it. Our motto is ‘building a heart for service’ and we believe that. We try to show that through these camps. A lot of these kids are returning and it’s awesome because they are helping others. Some of our kids have gone back to their own communities and have helped organize and start programs to help others there. The camps help teach these kids that everybody has something to offer,” Good-Erickson explained. By the end of summer, there will have been four camps with Laurel Ridge and about 250 participants completing various tasks in the two counties. Good-Erickson also said that after the camps’ completion, there would have been over $18,000 spent in the local economy because of materials, supplies, gas, local activities and more. Last week, there were 81 campers at Laurel Ridge completing projects at the various work sites in Ashe and Alleghany ranging from the park projects in Jefferson to building a ramp and a deck at local homes to painting at Family Central and at the Center @ Fleetwood. Other projects were completed at Ashe Outreach Ministries in Clifton where shelves were built for the food pantry that serves residents in that community. Referrals are made to the program from local community service organizations and churches. Ashe Parks and Recreation Director Joe Boccardy was very pleased with the camp and all the work they completed at Ashe Park. “These kids have been involved in the entire process from start to finish. They work with at least one adult and are able to make their own decisions about the projects. Here, they have built an ADA ramp and deck on the front office at the park and at the bathrooms near one of the fields,” Boccardy explained. “They are also working on a really cool butterfly garden here for us. I am just very pleased because they have done such a good job and are very professional and safe. The kids get to use the tools and have just been involved in the whole process. These kids come from all over the state to help us and it’s great. They are helping us help the community by what they are doing here.” Boccardy said that he very much appreciated Ashe County Builders Supply for helping them with the cost of materials. The camps use an action/reflection model which offers plenty of time for work, play and reflection, according to the website (www.laurelridge.org). Morning and evening devotions and scheduled journaling time help participants create time and space to hear God’s voice. Evening programs give us a chance to better know the communities where they work. Social workers, storytellers and musicians share their lives with us and help participants understand how much everyone has in common, and how valuable the differences can be. We come together with all of our questions, doubts, and varied experiences. Last year, in four weeks, 155 youth and 61 adults representing 16 Moravian churches worked with 41 families to: build 14 ramps and decks; clean windows in 14 homes; mow, weed-eat, and clean seven yards; complete six painting jobs; replace one trailer floor; do 3 major carpentry projects; provide general cleaning and organization for 9 homes; build playground equipment for 3 childcare facilities; complete 2 roofs and landscape 6 yards. They also built shelves, sorted toys, painted, sang, rocked babies, built a tree house for six non-profit agencies/childcare facilities and built birdfeeders and delivered to nursing homes/shut-ins complete with birdseed and lots of prayer and singing. For more than 40 years, Laurel Ridge has served as the camp, conference and retreat center of the Moravian Church, Southern Province and has around 700 acres that is located in Ashe County. Laurel Ridge offers a full schedule of year-round programming for all ages. The facilities are available for reservation by individuals, churches and groups of all faiths and other non-profit organizations for conferences, retreats and educational events. For more information, visit the website at www.laurelridge.org or call 336-359-2951.