Youth Group Travels to Denver, Colorado 2000

The Parish Youth Group traveled to Denver, Colorado for a four-day mission trip leaving on Monday, August 7, 2000 and returning late on Friday, August 11.  The group was made up of 15 youth from the United Methodist Churches in LaCrosse, Otis, Bison, and McCracken.  Three sponsors accompanied the youth including Senior Pastor, Kathy Bannister.

After arrival in Denver, the group saw murals done by troubled children.  These murals showed their personal experiences such as drug abuse, child abuse, and being homeless.  One troubled youth had done a mural which showed hope and possibilities, an inspirational piece of art which showed that it is possible to overcome despair.

On the first full day the youths became involved in what is called "Project CURE." The "CURE" in Project Cure stands for Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment and that's what this non-profit organization is all about.  In several huge warehouses Project CURE collects donated medical supplies and equipment, everything from oxygen masks to latex gloves to surgical tables to EKG machines.  Then they box them up and ship them all over the world to developing nations.

Their mission is to bridge the gap between those who have more than enough and those who have too little.  They do this by reclaiming supplies and equipment that would otherwise sit unused in warehouses or fill landfills and use them to save lives.  Everything they send is a free gift to the recipient hospital or clinic.  The day the youths from the parish worked were there they not only found fun in playing and riding around on the pallet jacks and water fights (it WAS hot!!), they helped prepare shipments for places as far away as Ethiopia and Siberia.

The second day the group was split into three groups.  Each group spent the day in a different type of kitchen washing dishes and preparing and serving food.  Each of the groups was sent to a different type of kitchen.

One group worked in the "Love Kitchen." The Love Kitchen is a community ministry of the Redeeming Love Fellowship Church in Northeast Denver.  Some church women looked around their neighborhood and realized that a lot of people were hungry.  So they decided to feed them lunch everyday.  It is as simple as that.

The kitchen is presided over by Rev. Clyde, who makes sure love goes in all the food.  They feed about 50 people each day, about half are homeless including a number of Vietnam vets, and the other half are low income elderly and mothers with children.  13,000 meals came out of their kitchen last year in service to Christ.

Rev. Clyde proclaimed Nicole, one of the young women from the youth group, the "French Fry Queen" and Will, another member of the group, the "Dishwashing King."  He insisted Lauren put too much love in the water...but not really.  The Love Kitchen serves anybody who comes through the door.  It really is that simple.

Another group was sent to the Catholic Worker Soup Kitchen and served soup to the elderly and low income people of the area.  This kitchen serves from 250 to 300 people daily. 

The last group became volunteers at "Project Angel Heart."  While there the youths learned the answers to these questions:

1.  Why are meals so important for persons living with HIV/AIDS?                   

A:  Because when you are sick you often don't feel like cooking and don't get enough nutrition.  Good nutrition is really important to helping people with HIV/AIDS fight the disease.

2.  What is the goal of the meals?                                                              

A:  To give people 2000 calories six days a week.

3.  When working in this kitchen you must be very careful about cleanliness.   Why is that?                                                                                       

A:  You are serving HIV/AIDS patients who could get really sick if you aren't careful.

4.  How many meals do they make every day?                                           

A:  220, some specialized.

5.  Do they only give meals to HIV/AIDS patients?                                      

A:  No, they also will provide meals for caretakers and dependants.

6.  How do the client's get the meals?                                                       

A:  Delivery by lots of volunteers, over a 150 mile radius.

7.  When the meals are delivered you are told to rip up your list at the end and not to say anything about what you were doing if asked.  Why is that? 

A:  It's important to protect the privacy of HIV/AIDS patients because they often haven't told their landlords or neighbors for fear of being discriminated against.

The youth group was again divided into three smaller groups for Day Three - the last full day.  The group who worked with "Neighborhood Partners," helped hang drywall for a four-unit complex at a construction site which is dedicated to building affordable housing for low-income families.

The second group was sent to "Denver Urban Gardens," which grows vegetables for low-income families and for "Project Angel Heart," one of the kitchens the youth had worked at the day before.  The food grown at the Gardens feeds approximately 30,000 people weekly.  Denver Urban Gardens was founded more than 13 years ago to help low-income families start gardens and raise food for themselves.  Besides small gardens in neighborhoods, DUG also has a big garden in Aurora.  They worked out in the big garden digging up broccoli and cabbage plants and tons of weeds. 

The members of the youth group put in volunteer hours in the garden for Project Angel Heart so that their organization can receive fresh produce to use for their meals.  Denver Urban Gardens gives the food they raise to lots of organizations.  Many school children who don't know where food comes from come out to tour the garden.

The parish youth worked hard during their trip and the record breaking temperatures but still they managed while working and learning to remain excited about their trip and find ways to have fun.  Cabbage baseball was one of their favorite activities.  You play with a cabbage and a shovel. 

Many cabbages were taken to the next place they worked:  COMPRA. COMPRA started in 1981 when six inner city church pastors saw that hunger was a growing problem in their neighborhoods.  They started gathering left over food from grocery stores and providing weekly food boxes to people in need.

Today COMPRA has a huge warehouse and supplies more than 60 different organizations with free food.  80% goes to help the working poor.  The day the parish youths were there they boxed loaves and more loaves and more loaves of bread and got some more practice taking rides on pallet jacks.

COMPRA gets enough food each week to feed over 30,000 people.  All of this food would have been thrown away if COMPRA didn't collect it.  Working at COMPRA made everyone think about how much food is wasted in the world, maybe even just in our own country.

The parish youth worked hard during their trip and the record breaking temperatures but still they managed to remain excited about their trip and find ways to have fun. 
Denver Urban Ministries helped to coordinate the trip and the entire parish community gave help and support for the group to travel to Colorado.  In appreciation of their contributions the youth group served a spaghetti supper at the LaCrosse Church and spoke to the people who attended about their experiences.