A group of teens in Louisiana are spending their summer doing free home repairs for homeowners in need. As part of their church’s 225 Revive program, 14- and 15-year-olds from the First United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge have spent much of the summer volunteering making needed repairs on homes of people in their community who aren’t able to do the work themselves.
Hundreds of kids from the church are participating in the program which has them repairing dozens of homes for their neighbors who can’t afford to get necessary repairs done. Homeowner Gladys Herman called the teens a god-send. "I was elated, I was very happy," she says. Without the teens, she and her husband wouldn’t have been able to afford the repairs. “We wouldn't have been able to get it fixed, because we have no money," she explains.
One volunteer, 15-year-old Max Mahaffey chooses to look on the bright side of spending his summer working for free. "We're all friends here. It's fun and we're putting in some work here," he says. "Makes me feel great to help others out." Youth minister Kale Wetekamm says that it’s about more than just making needed repairs. “It's about the relationships with the people that we get to work with and alongside,” he says. “It's better for our lives and better for Baton Rouge."
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