For the first time ever, a Catholic HEART Workcamp has been held in Springfield to reach out to community organizations which help those in need. Teens and their chaperones from around the country participated in the camp which lasted from June 30 to July 6.
Dave Knoepfle, a parishioner at St. Jude Parish in Rochester and a math teacher at Franklin Middle School in Springfield, was the camp manager. The group included 67 young people between the ages of 14-22 and 18 adult chaperones. All the volunteers were housed and slept on the floor of Southeast High School in Springfield School District 186.
"One of the biggest challenges of being a camp manager is finding a facility that meets the needs of the camp," Knoepfle says. "I knew that the Springfield School District had opened its doors to other mission groups, so I called around and we ended up at Southeast. They have been really helpful and accommodating."
Another large part of Knoepfle's duties was finding places for camp volunteers to work. "I've been working on this since February and we ended up having 14 groups going out from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day," he says. The campers worked for St. Joseph's Home, St. Patrick Catholic School, Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, SPARC, Sojourn Shelter, Red Cross, Springfield Boys and Girls Club, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois and the Springfield Park District.
Jobs included painting interior and exterior walls of buildings, landscaping, cleaning classrooms and kitchens, washing windows, pulling weeds and even detailing Red Cross vehicles which had recently be used in storm-stricken areas of Oklahoma.
Volunteers also participated in Masses, took advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation and took part in other activities such as prayer times, sing-a-longs, role-playing skits, dances and more. Ten members of the Catholic HEART Workcamp staff (who are trained and travel around the country all summer) were also on hand to help, says Knoepfle.
Although many of the campers came from out of state, some of the week-long volunteers came from the Springfield diocese, including those from St. Peter Parish in Petersburg and Holy Family Parish in Athens.
Although they weren't "official" members of the Workcamp, daytime volunteers also came from St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham and some Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts served as well. Kevin Collings, youth minister at St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham, asked some of his adult friends who are electricians to help, too, says Knoepfle.
Local priest volunteers were Father James Palakudy, SAC, pastor of St. Peter Parish, Petersburg and Holy Family Parish, Athens who was the principal camp priest; along with Father Jeff Grant, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, Springfield; Father Bob Jallas, pastor of St. Agnes Parish, Springfield; Father Dean Probst, pastor of St. Jude Parish, Rochester; Father Albert Allen, parochial vicar of Sacred Heart Parish and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Effingham, and Annunciation Parish in Shumway; and Father Paul Habing, who serves in Hispanic Ministry at St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Springfield.
Knoepfle says he also relied on the assistance of Collings, Deacon Denny Baker of Sacred Heart Parish in Virden, St. Patrick Parish in Girard and Holy Cross in Auburn; and Dan Frachey, director of Christian Formation at St. Jude Parish in Rochester. Deacon Baker's wife, Kathy Baker, was the Workcamp nurse.
"Of course my pastor, Father Dean Probst, was extremely helpful because he has gone on so many mission trips," he adds.
Other young people and chaperones from around the diocese took part in Workcamps in other areas of the country. Fifty individuals from St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Chatham and Holy Cross Parish in Auburn traveled to Denver, for their mission trip. "In order to attend CHWC, the youth worked for nine months to raise over $32,000 for the trip," says Amy McKenzie, Faith Formation coordinator for grades 7-12.
"The purpose of the mission trip was to share the love of Christ as they served the neglected, brokenhearted and the marginalized," McKenzie says. "They worked as laborers, painting, gardening, repairing and cleaning low income properties and churches.
"They also stocked shelves in a large community food bank and thrift store, coached youth soccer classes and helped teach English to Spanish-speaking children," she says. "In the evenings, they celebrated their faith with hundreds of other Catholic youth and adults while strengthening their own faith and personal relationships."
Youth and adults from St. Jude Parish in Rochester — 38 in all — traveled to Philadelphia to volunteer at a Workcamp. Seventeen volunteers from Sacred Heart and St. Anthony parishes in Effingham went to Atlanta. Seventy-seven volunteers from St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Teutopolis, St. Isidore the Farmer Parish in Bishop Creek, Sacred Heart Parish in Lillyville, St. Mary Help of Christians Parish in Green Creek, and St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Sigel traveled to Milwaukee.
Catholic HEART Workcamp was founded 21 years ago by Florida residents Steve and Lisa Walker. The first camp in Orlando had 100 campers. The program has grown to include more than 13,000 campers in 50 cities across the country as well as two international camps in Jamaica and Belize. Campers raise their own money to pay their ways on the trips. For more information on the camps go to www.heartworkcamp.com.