A multicultural community of idealistic teenagers and young adults, the Brattleboro Area Interfaith Youth Group comes together monthly to develop friendships, to have fun and to provide service to others. Twenty-one members of their group, ranging in age from 13 to 22, are busy fundraising to make their dream of a service and learning trip to North Carolina a reality this spring.
Brian Remer, one of the adult leaders describes the group as being made up of young people who are interested in sharing their life experiences and cultures and providing each other support while doing community service that helps others. Nearly half of the group are young newcomers from Democratic Republic of Congo, refugees who were resettled in the area in the last several years.
“We first got the idea last fall when we heard about the devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene on the area surrounding Asheville, North Carolina, as it was eerily reminiscent of the damages we experienced from Hurricane Irene in the Windham County area,” Remer said.
“As we studied the situation and reached out to individuals and organizations we knew in Asheville, we determined that this could be a terrific opportunity to serve others, develop leaders, support justice, build community and practice compassion—our five goals for the trip,” he explained. “Often by getting out of familiar surroundings we can more clearly reflect on our own community,” stated Remer, who has experience leading student trips abroad.
The group will be traveling to Asheville, North Carolina during their April Spring Break for a week of assisting local nonprofits in helping the people and communities there recover from the damage from Hurricane Helen’s floods that wiped out entire towns in western North Carolina.
The young people’s efforts will be coordinated with Asheville Youth Mission Co, to which the group pays a nominal amount to arrange meals and simple accommodation in sleeping bags on the floor during their stay.
More importantly, Asheville Youth Mission Co. will connect the Brattleboro area group with local social service agencies that can benefit from the youth group’s assistance and help debrief the group each evening, so the Brattleboro young people gain a greater context for the forces shaping the communities and the organizations they are helping.
Including young people from the towns of Dummerston, Putney, Guilford, and Brattleboro, the group represents Christian, Muslim and Jewish faith communities, as well as individuals who are not connected with a spiritual practice.
The group is raising funds through this GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/9d7a162f , taking orders for pizzas and cookie dough sales, asking returnable bottles and cans to be delivered then credited to the Interfaith Youth Group at the Putney Rd. Redemption Center, and by talking to area civic, business and religious groups.
Checks can be sent in care of GCC at 38 Church St. Guilford, VT 05301 memo line: Asheville Trip. Credit card or PayPal donations can be made at guilfordchurch.org. Note: Youth Group trip. For more information, contact Nanci Leitch, youth group coordinator at Nanci.leitch@gmail.com or call (802) 258-8348.
