Young Life kids help city

During tough economic times, everyone is grateful to receive a helping hand. Last Saturday, the City of Sisters received 60 helping hands from high school and middle school students when they spent their day painting 14 picnic benches at the Village Green Park and cleaning up pine needles at the Three Sisters Overnight Park.

The students were working as part of a serve-a-thon to raise money to attend summer Young Life camps in Gearhart and Antelope.

Jon Coulter, Young Life area director for Sisters, said each student raised anywhere from $40 to $400 by asking friends, relatives and business owners to pledge a dollar amount for the hours each student worked.

Throughout the day the Young Life team averaged 30 students helping out, adding up to more than 250 hours of work, Coulter said.

The picnic-bench painting came just in time for the American Legion and VFW Memorial Day program, scheduled for Monday. Most of the benches had been vandalized with foul language and swastikas, Coulter said. The kids were able to sand down rough spots and paint the benches a warm brown color. Since they finished the painting early in the day, the kids were able to spend more time raking pine needles at the overnight park.

"It was great," said Bryan Hicks, a Young Life student leader and senior at the University of Oregon in Bend. "The city provided everything we needed."

He added that it was an excellent project because the kids were able to see what they accomplished at the end of the day.

Young Life is an international Christian organization made up of adult leaders who spend time with community youth having fun and being there to listen. In Sisters, the middle school group meets Tuesday nights at 7 p.m. at the Hanger, a building next to Sisters Christian Academy. High school Young Life meets Monday nights at various locations at 7:27 p.m.

In addition to serving the city, students have spent their Saturdays in April and May raking pine needles in Tollgate. Homeowners who benefited from the kids' help then donated to the Young Life scholarship camp fund.

Often the students would be seen at one house and a neighbor would ask for help as well, Coulter said. Coulter said he hopes kids can serve the city again in the fall and spring.

"It would give them a jump-start on raising money for camps," he said. Those interested in donating to camp scholarships can send checks to Sisters Young Life, P.O. Box 2039, Sisters, OR, 97759 or give online at http://www.younglife.org/giving (use area code OR219 to indicate the donation is for Sisters).