JWalkers youth group volunteers in Tennessee for mission trip

By Rachel Mergen

“We are so blessed,” Mary Stoeffler exclaimed in an email to parents whose children joined her during an annual mission trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn., from July 5 to 13. The students, who are members of the JWalkers youth group at Prairie du Chien’s Holy Family Parish, embarked on the trip to help with forest fire cleanup.

On day one of the trip, the kids completely rocked it, according to Stoeffler. The students had three sites in action—one of which was located at a home site where the students sifted and cleaned up a house that was burnt, while another was a rebuild location. At the rebuild location, attending Prairie du Chien boys, along with students Peggy Koresh, Gracie Colson, Kaitlyn Waller, Mackenzie Pettit and Lauren Kennedy worked hard to bring the house new beauty with paint. The boys helped collect cinder blocks with adult attendees John Hendrix and Sister Mary David.

After the first long day, the group enjoyed a barbecue and  fried macaroni and cheese dinner, along with a walk through the town to check out local sites.

In the first email to the parents, Stoeffler added, “It was a great day, and our accommodations are very comfortable. The supervisors made a comment that this group knows what they are doing.”

“Today was a tough day in a lot of ways,” Stoeffler started off the email for Friday, July 7, the second work day for the students. She explained how the group who had been working at the debris site was unable to sift due to rain. The sifting was supposed to be completed in search of valuables like jewelry left within ashes. The students assigned to this project were instead led to look for other damage and black bears.

Students Zach Mara, Kyle MacEachern and Weston Hill found themselves defined as heroes at the sight Stoeffler led, which was where the same  home from day one was being remodeled. They labored away in the crawl space as they worked to put in insulation.

“There was not one complaint. The kids took it in stride,” Stoeffler said. The travelers faced many hard tasks, including having to repaint the entire house a different color than they did the day prior.

On this day, a television crew filmed the students as they worked. In addition, the mission trip group was featured in a local Gatlinburg newspaper.

The students enjoyed ice cream during an evening  stroll downtown.

Day three started off brightly with a great breakfast at a nearby pancake house before the group headed off toward Dollywood. According to Stoeffler, the students greatly enjoyed it until a rainstorm hit at approximately 3 p.m. The youth group met at Aunt Granny’s Kitchen for a southern buffet, before deciding to either head back to their accommodations or stay longer. The majority were too tired to stay, but some continued to stay in the area to search for more fun.

On Sunday, students learned that plans can change quite suddenly. 

Morning mass was attended, which was thoroughly enjoyed.

A flat tire affected the rest of the day though. Instead of following the original plan of going to the mountains, the students took a free trip on a trolley, because of a long expected wait time for the tire to be fixed.

After arriving downtown on the trolley, the group enjoyed playing minature golf, bumper cars and laser tag. 

At the end of the evening, they enjoyed setting up a projector and watching movies.

In addition, the night included seeing a bear approximately 150 yards away in the woods.

Monday was a very productive day, according to Stoeffler. Early in the morning, a small section of the students began sifting, but ended up being transferred to a food bank. 

Stoeffler described with great enthusiasm the experience of the food bank, “There they had to put bulk items in separate bags and label them for the needy and food pantries. [It was] a very rewarding job.”

The rest of the students and Stoeffler continued working on two houses. Their tasks included painting, adding trim, working in the crawl space and putting on sill paint.

“The kids really were efficient and did a great job,” Stoeffler remarked.

Tuesday’s email to the parents began with, “Today everyone really got the mission trip experience of nothing but pure hard work.” 

A group of young men worked on one of the houses, making great progress, while a group of ladies found themselves helping at a food center. The girls worked on planting a garden and helping to stock shelves. They enjoyed conversing with others while volunteering.

Another section of students ended up at a thrift store. Originally, they were not thrilled by the idea of simply being inside sorting clothes, but they soon learned after arriving that there was much more to do than they were expecting. The students ended up working hard outside while completing a variety of tasks. 

The rest of the students, dealt with clutter, helped a woman move into a new house, loaded clothing that would be sent to Haiti and hauled brush, which did not last as long as planned due to extreme heat.

“Today, by far, was our hardest work day, but, according to the kids, it has been the best day so far,” the Tuesday email concluded.

On the final day of the trip, the students only worked till about one in the afternoon, because heat once again was a limiting factor. 

Afterwards, the travelers found themselves cleaning their living quarters in preparation for departure and visiting town one last time for souvenirs.

The students were entertained at the end of the night by one of the home-owners, who they helped. It was his way of thanking them for all of their hard work. 

Following the entertainment, supper and a final meeting, the students began their long trip back to Prairie du Chien. 

A video depicting the week is available at www.facebook.com/tiajschlagenhaft/posts/1573466919394511.