CLEARFIELD – Tia Lansberry, of Central PA Community Action, asked the Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors to extend another invitation and offer use of the middle school to the Group Workcamp for a week in summer 2010 at Monday night’s committee meetings.
She said the Group Workcamp is a non-profit organization that was founded to provide short term mission trips both in the United States and abroad. She said the campers serve low-income, seniors and the disabled, as they focus on home repair and community service.
She said that 299 campers arrived from six different states and volunteered the week of July 14, 2008. She said that they were housed at the middle school and dined at the cafeteria for breakfast and dinner. She said lunches were packed in coolers and taken to assigned work sites.
Lansberry noted campers who worked from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each day improved 48 homes and assisted 107 residents by doing so. She also indicated that 22 homes were served in Clearfield alone.
“It’s an important project (here), as it is a rural area,” Lansberry said. She said that the homes received improvements, such as porch repair and replacement, step building and repair and mobile home skirting. She also indicated that they weatherized homes and made them handicap accessible.
She said while Clearfield is a rural area, it suffers from high poverty statistics, unemployment and an increased senior population. She said these families are often unable to make the necessary improvements to their homes.
Lansberry said that one in every six is facing poverty in Clearfield County, according to the US Census in 2007. She said that 14.9 percent or 11,612 people are currently receiving food stamps and 21.6 percent of persons are eligible for medical assistance. She also pointed out that in February the unemployment rate had reached 11.3 percent.
“We had a positive response last year,” she said, adding the residents enjoyed the camper’s company and were grateful for their work.
She said that Central PA Community Action would be partnering with the Clearfield Ministerium in order to bring the Group Workcamp back to the area. She said they currently need to raise $19,000.
According to Lansberry, the campers pay a tuition fee for their attendance. She said that a portion of their tuition is, then, used to match the funds raised by Central PA Community Action and the Clearfield Ministerium.
Lansberry said that all funds are put toward the purchase of materials. She said that the jobs are assigned by the amount of funds raised. She said that the more funds raised, the more homes served.
Tim Meckey, middle school principal, said that said that he was impressed by last summer’s campers and only thought that the district should plan for more custodial help.
“I was extremely impressed by the campers’ behavior and mannerisms. They had extremely respectable demeanor,” he said.
Rick Bunning, director of buildings and grounds, said that he had spoken with a representative from Group Workcamp. He said that he would like to see the group come in June after school has let out.
Bunning said that it would be less strain on the staff during the cleanup afterward. He indicated that he was told the early summer arrival could be accommodated.