PARKERSBURG - About 450 students and volunteers are traveling throughout the valley this week painting homes for area residents.
The Mid-Ohio Valley Work Camp, in its 13th year, brings youth ages 13 and up to the area for a week to paint homes. The program centers on residents who either financially or physically cannot do the work themselves.
According to the group's Website at www.movworkcamp.org, the work camp "is a project organized to give young people an opportunity to serve God by serving others who are in need. It was started by area youth ministers from the Church of Christ in 1999. (The) Work Camp is a nonprofit organization that relies on congregational and individual contributions as well as area business to provide needed funding, food and supplies to successfully function."
Cinda Cowdery, office administrator for the work camp, said as of last year the program had helped paint 345 houses. The program is now in its 13th year.
Kari Thompson, spokeswoman for Ohio Valley University, said the students and staff members are staying on the campus of OVU this week. The group arrived Sunday evening and held an opening prayer ceremony in the college's chapel.
On Monday the group spread out to 41 locations throughout the area, including sites in Parkersburg, Vienna, Williamstown and Marietta.
"They have started scraping and the plan is they will have their houses painted and done by Thursday," Cowdery said. "We are just trying to reach out to the community and have an impact."
David Ray, a youth pastor and site supervisor for a group working on a house on 19th Street in Parkersburg, said the students hail from throughout the region and from several states away, including West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Michigan and even Florida.
"We're just painting houses and hopefully in the process transforming lives," he said. "These kids have given up a week of their summer to come and serve people who probably wouldn't be able to have this work done any other way."
Ray said he volunteered with the work camp for several years as a student, then came back to help lead new and returning volunteers.
"Some of them have done this for years, but for a lot of them this is their first time," he said.
Lilia Bryan, 14, traveled from Florida to help paint homes.
"This is actually my second time (with the work camp). I just like helping people," she said.
Bryan said while the work is hard, it is ultimately rewarding.
"Seeing the homeowner happy is the most rewarding," she said. "Everyone is so appreciative."
First-year volunteer Daniel Sornig, 16, traveled from Michigan with his youth group to take part in the project. His group has participated in similar projects in the past, but said this is by far the largest.
"Just meeting everyone, being able to make new friends and hang out, making people happy, it's great," he said. "I like it."
Cowdery said meals for the week have been donated by area businesses. The week of work will culminate Thursday with a dinner at Ohio Valley University.
"We invite all the homeowners to attend and we provide a limousine service to bring them to the banquet," she said. "We will have a slide presentation with before and after pics of the homes we have painted. It's a wonderful event."
