Christian Ethics students in Weyburn, Radville and Estevan are preparing for a mission trip this coming spring, but they're hoping the community can help them get there in the months leading up their departure.
Christian Ethics students in Weyburn, Radville and Estevan are preparing for a mission trip this coming spring, but they're hoping the community can help them get there in the months leading up their departure.
The 19 students and 10 adult volunteers will depart for Peru on Saturday, March 22 and return Sunday, March 30. The Weyburn participants are Jamisen Johner, Connor Racicot, Haley Anderson, Rekina Browatzke, Chelsea Hoffart, Ashlee Adasci, Steven Clarke and staff member Lynn Colquhoun.
They will be volunteering in the district of San Juan de Miraflores in Pamplona with the organization Construyendo Communidad where they will build concrete steps near a shanty town so residents have safe access to fresh water, give dental hygiene lessons and take children and their families for a family fun day to a zoo or something similar.
"We are most looking forward to seeing how different the environment will be, seeing how other people live each and every day of their life, helping build the staircase for access to fresh water and spending time with the people," said Chelsea Hoffart.
For all 29 participants to travel to Peru and complete the mission trip, they must raise a total of $90,000 and Holy Family Roman Catholic Separate School District is planning fundraisers to reach that goal.
There will be a garage sale in the old St. Dominic Savio School on Friday, Dec. 6 and Saturday, Dec. 7, with all proceeds going towards the mission trip. The garage sale will be open to the public from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
A raffle is also planned through the month of December and the tickets will be drawn just before the students leave for December break. Raffle prizes include a snowblower, a table and a Westrum Lumber Gift Card. Tickets cost $10 each and can be purchased from any of the students taking part in the mission trip or from Krystal Browatzke at Prairie Wind Recreational. Students will also be at various locations throughout the city during the first part of December to sell raffle tickets.
All of the participants must also pay $500 and raise more money through personal fundraising such as bottle drives, bake sales, and yard work. The hours to students work towards fundraising or doing volunteer work in the community will be tracked and counted against the remaining funds required for each person.
"As a Christian Ethics group, we have worked at a bingo, helped to set up and take down booths in the United Church, mailed letters to companies to see if they would like to donate any money to our trip and we have also sold baking and collected bottles," said Hoffart.
"(The service is required) because, not only is it a mission, it is a learning of self, community and service. It gives the students an opportunity to grow in themselves," said Lynn Colquhoun, coordinator for Holy Family.
"(People can support us by) attending the events that will be coming soon or see if we would like to help out with an event they are putting on," said Hoffart, who added that donations can be given to participants or the division office.
