TEEN-AGE VISITORS' LABOR SHOWS WHERE HEARTS ARE

TEEN-AGE VISITORS' LABOR SHOWS WHERE HEARTS
ARE
by Leslie Williams
The Times-Picayune

     NEW ORLEANS -- July 25 -- Applying the biblical directive to love thy neighbor, thousands of teens in town for a Lutheran youth gathering fanned out across New Orleans for cleanup projects from the Desire and Florida neighborhoods to Algiers Point.
     "I wish all people were like them," observed Andrew Faucheaux as he sat on the steps of his well-maintained home in the Desire area of New Orleans and watched volunteers clean an untidy area behind his garden of tomatoes, okra and bell peppers.
     Randy Ruehs of Jessup, Iowa, and a few others -- with flushed cheeks and sweat-drenched clothes -- hoisted a rusted stove and placed it by the curb for pickup as well as removing what Faucheaux called "gangs of (rotting) lumber" from the back yard.
     "I wasn't able to, you know, take it out myself," said the 85-year-old Faucheaux, who has lived at the home in the 3200 block of Piety Street since 1955.  "In my younger days, I could have done this."
     Faucheaux welcomed the good deed, as did others in the Desire and Florida area neighborhoods who were beneficiaries of the cleanup by more than 1,400 teens and 150 adult sponsors attending the 1997 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Youth Gathering. The event, which began Wednesday and ends Sunday, brought about 28,000 youths and 7,000 adults to town.  As part of their gathering, which takes place in a different city every three years, the Lutherans schedule volunteer work into their convention of fun, fellowship, Bible study and worship.
     The helping hand offered Faucheaux was extended often throughout the day.  The 1,400 teens from the United States and some foreign countries spent nearly eight hours in 90-degree heat and 60 percent humidity raking, sweeping, shoveling, painting and picking up litter and debris.
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     "We came here to have a good time, but we also wanted to do something to help, to put something back into the community we're visiting," said Jessica Minnich, 17, from Brogue, Pa., who spent much of the afternoon sweeping sidewalks in the Desire public housing complex.
     Minnich and thousands of other teens were divided into teams and accompanied by adult counselors and about 200 city employees.
     "They're giving 100 percent," said James Wadley, a city housing inspector, who supervised one group of Lutheran youths.  "They're doing a lot of good."
     City workers refer to the three-day assist from the Lutherans as the "Super Strategic Inspection Force" cleanup that is the result of planning that began in March.
     Other super cleanups, which should include about 1,500 volunteers, are scheduled today and Saturday.
     "There is a lot of positive energy within this group," said Marlin. N. Gusman, the city's chief administrative officer.  "I'm impressed.  They are special people."
     City employees also attacked vacant lots in the area during the cleaning spree.  They cleared drains and gutters, removed graffiti, mowed lawns and throttled up improvements to parks in the neighborhoods.
     Many Lutherans were dispatched Thursday to three schools: Carver High, Lockett Elementary and Frantz Elementary.  They painted walls and ceilings, picked up trash, grass and litter.
     Other groups of teens headed west early in the morning to start their day of service on the West Bank.
     Swarming on the ferry as they crossed the Mississippi River from the French Quarter, the teens were counted off and sent into service groups as they walked down the ferry landing ramp. Some painted a community pool or helped dig community gardens, while others painted schools or houses for the elderly, disabled and poor, among other projects.
     "This is amazing," said Fischer Elementary School Principal Carol Edgar-Lang, as she watched the youths descend en masse to work around the school.  "They are a blessing from God."

Staff writer Pam Louwagie contributed to
this report.
Reprinted with permission from The
Times-Picayune.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director, News and Information
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html