Westford youth volunteer in Mississippi

Most people picture teenagers relaxing on their summer vacations but more than 40 teens from Westford decided instead to lace up their work boots and bring hope to the people of Mississippi.

Kids from St. Catherine’s Church teamed up with other churches from around the area on a weeklong cluster trip to Mississippi. This is the second year St. Catherine’s made the trip to do charity work with members of St. Ann’s Church in Lizanna, Missi.

“We did anything people needed while we were down there. From fixing roofs to helping clean out houses,” said Bridget Cullen, 17.

Volunteer’s days were filled with activity, starting with a 6:30 a.m. wake up and not leaving the worksite until after 5 p.m.

Working along side professionals, kids helped wire houses and paint houses.

One day a group of volunteers poured 22 tons of cement for the foundation of a house. 

“I’ll never forget when someone commented our volunteers were working harder on their house foundation than the contractors on the house next to us,” said trip chaperone Barbra Smith.

Smith said the group worked to help rebuild the houses of those who couldn’t afford to rebuild after Katrina.

“The poverty level is very high in Mississippi so when people’s insurance didn’t pay up, most people were left with nowhere to go,” said Smith.

St. Ann’s Church began Project Hope and Compassion immediately after Katrina to help people get necessities. As time progressed, St. Ann’s partnered with other churches around the country to help bring more volunteers to Mississippi.

Smith said she would never forget the first year she went down to Mississippi.

“I’ve never seen anything like it. Imagine everything from Rye Beach to Hampton Beach completely washed away,” said Smith.

Cullen said one of the most memorable moments was when her group visited the Gulf of Mexico.

“It was this beautiful beach with no one on it. You could see buildings and things sticking out of the water,” said Cullen.

Rob Szypko, 17, spent his second summer volunteering and said he had a mixed reaction when he viewed the changes in the area.

“It’s good to see new houses going up but there is also still so much work that needs to be done,” said Szypko.

Szypko also visited some of the houses he had worked on the year before.

“We went out one day to see some of the finished houses we had worked on last year, it was a great feeling,” said Szypko.

“You walk into Wal-Mart and all you see is people with different charity T-shirts on. I think we keep the stores running down there,” said Smith.

Cullen said people who don’t see it every day don’t understand how much rebuilding still has to be done.

“The news says businesses are back up and running in Mississippi but they just mean Home Depot and Wal-Mart. There are no smaller businesses open,” said Cullen.

Donations are great but Szypko said the people in Mississippi need something more.

“People need to go down there and help to show these people we haven’t forgotten about them. We need to give them hope,” said Szypko.

To view a slideshow with commentary from volunteers visit our website at http://www.townonline.com/westford.