The residents of Winchester, Kentucky will see some unfamiliar faces this week, as 317 campers are scattered around town, helping out the town’s residents.
Susan Barton, director for Group Cares Work Camp says they’re working on houses for people that are low-income, elderly, ill, – those who can’t do the work for themselves.
Group Cares is a national nonprofit that sends mission trips to communities looking for support.
Back in 2018, retired teacher and Winchester local Shannon Cox thought his community was the perfect fit, and the camp has been coming back ever since.
The students are in junior high and high school, and they have come from 14 different states and some from Canada. While it’s a work camp, to them, it’s about more than just the end product of their labor.
Camper Will Cancio said, “It’s really nice to get to know them and help them out and hear their stories – and they have pretty cool stories.”
All week the campers will be across the community, pulling weeds, building ramps, painting decks, and doing whatever the residents need. Cox says it is all about teaching younger generations to love their neighbors.
To make his point he refers to Matthew 25, saying, “Jesus said that whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me, and these people this week, whether they can afford the job, whether they can’t get somebody to do the job, whether they are unable to do the job themselves, when they leave Saturday, Winchester is going to be a better town, and they are going to be better people for being here.”