Week of Hope campers HQ in Newark

After nearly two months and more than 500 campers, 'Week of Hope,' headquartered at the Woodlane Community Church, Newark draws to a close.

The program is based in Loveland, Colorado, and is designed to established organizational centers for individuals and youth groups from all across the country to help communities.

The organization is inter-denominational, hoping to reach the broadest range of Christians and find the middle line between everyone.

'Week of Hope' has 16 sites in several states, setting up camp for six to seven weeks, helping middle and high school students do community service projects for the town and surrounding areas.

Leaders this year were two former campers - Becky Tener of Ohio and Andrea Heyse of St. Louis. The young women, with program coordinator Jay Rusco of Scarlet Thread Ministries in Sodus, have organized the campers' duties and job sites, where they can be of assistance.

Rusco was responsible for bringing the group to Newark, where he believed there would be a need. Each work camp lasted one week, for a total of six weeks; this is one less than the organization normally hosts, due to New York's late school year. The same program is repeated each week when new campers arrive, allowing those being helped to receive consistent assistance.

The campers in Newark have found themselves volunteering their time at the nursing home, ARC, Armstrong, Clifton Springs Hospital, Sodus Community Center and Lyons Community Center, and other locations. They have also assisted individuals with various projects.

Tener has enjoyed her time in Newark, and she said there are many people in the church and community she and her partner are going to miss. She also added humorously that she will miss going to miss 'Wegmans and Tim Hortons.'

She and Heyse have used their free time between work camps to do some traveling, visiting Seneca Falls, Niagara Falls, Boston, Philadelphia, Hershey, and Lake Placid.

'We're severely ambitious,' she joked. 'We're probably in the car about ten hours every weekend.'

They need to report to Colorado by Tuesday morning, hoping to take a detour to Mount Rushmore on the way.

Although the two are not planning on returning to Newark next summer, 'Week of Hope' will be back, continuing to serve the needs of the community. Tener does believe there's a need in Newark, but knows that the organization and its 500 campers have made a difference in the lives of many.

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