Several High School students from Manning attended the week-long Salkehatchie Summer Service this past week. They worked on several homes in need of repair. The list of repairs included putting on a new roof, new stairs, flooring, kitchen repairs, and bathroom repairs. Students learned basic carpentry skills and repaired everything from floors to roofs. Students slept in a high school gym on cots or blow up mattresses.Not only do students dedicate their time and labor but they must also pay a $250 camp fee to attend. Manning United Methodist Church sent three adults and four youth. They included Pastor Kem Thomas, Ken Lovorn, Kelly Gottheiner, Katherine Burns, Isabella Harris, Madison Shirley and Alyssa Gottheiner. Tracie Holliday and Madison Brown from Union United Methodist Church also attended.“Salkehatchie has been one event I look forward to every summer,” said Katherine Burns. “I know when I’m making summer plans that the last week of June is Salk week. I enjoy Salkehatchie because I get to go help people and minister to them and I get to meet life long friends. What some of these homeowners don’t know is that they are helping us just as much as we are helping them. They help us grow closer to the Lord and to be thankful for what we have.”Salkehatchie is more than just a church outreach program. It is more than just a volunteer group and it is more than just a summer youth camp. Salkehatchie is faith in action. Youth volunteers head into rural, low-income towns to work in difficult conditions, allowing themselves to be the face, hands and feet of Christ.“This year, we went to the Bishopville Salkahatchie Camp, said Isabella Harris. “Salkahatchie is most definitely an eye opening experience. Regardless of what is being done to the home that your group is working on, the homeowner is more than grateful. I could see God throughout the week just because of how thankful our homeowner was because we redid her roof entirely. It is truly a humbling experience.”Volunteers spend one week performing home repairs in teams, doing projects as small as a building a ramp or as big as remodeling an entire kitchen. In doing so, they bond with families of different backgrounds than their own. They learn about teamwork and make friendships that last a lifetime. Salkehatchie strips youth of their familiar roles for seven days. They experience the significance of going without electronic devices with a limited regimen in an open learning environment. They learn from each other while solving problems and doing things themselves.
