LDS students from Camden, Lugoff and Columbia joined with teens here July 18, giving an estimated $100,000 worth of service at the Chicora Elementary School in North Charleston.
Nearly 400 teens and their leaders, from the Charleston and Columbia South Carolina stakes, armed with putty knives and scour pads, disinfected bathrooms, cleaned the grounds, peeled paint off baseboards, and scraped ceilings left soiled from age. The ceilings were prepared for other volunteers from Operation Home - a group of young-married LDS Church members in the Charleston area who fix up homes - to complete painting and replastering.The service project was part of an annual youth conference weekend, organized to help the teens give service, and participate in spiritual and social activities.
Robert New, Charleston County school board chairman, said he could not have been more pleased with the group's efforts. "This is what we need. It is harder and harder to get the community involved in schools. It is particularly rewarding because it is students helping students," he said.
Chicora Elementary Principal Don Butler was also overwhelmed by the number of people working in his halls. "Some people would say this can't be done, so many working together at a project, but it is working," he said.
Cousins Becky White and Naomi Connell, members of the Camden Ward, Columbia South Carolina Stake, said doing the work was well worth their time. It felt good to help others, they explained.
The LDS youth were treated to a dinner and dance at the Charleston Stake Center that evening.
