Church Group Eager to Help

A group of teens have descended on Belle Glade this week.

They're rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty. This week, 16 year old Xavier Alexander of Palm Beach Gardens has traded in his fast-food uniform for an old T-shirt and jeans.

Until now, the teenager has spent his summer working at a fast-food chicken place. But this week, he's one of about 300 teenagers from a church in Palm Beach Gardens who have come to Belle Glade, to help a bunch of people they've never met.

"It's fun just to help the community," Alexander said.

Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens has sent a small army of teens to Belle Glade, to do a number of projects to help the city, such as putting mulch on a jogging track in a city park, painting bleachers at a school, picking up trash and passing out school supplies to needy kids.

"I hope it'll just kinda like inspire everybody else to come help the community out," Alexander said.

Not only are these students not being paid a nickel for their time, but each one of them paid $200 this week just for the privilege to come out here and do this to help pay for things like food, transportation, paint, rakes, shovels and other supplies.

The young people from Christ Fellowship say spending that much money to come out here and work in the scorching July heat  isn't all that bad.

"Just to help all the people around here is just a blessing for us," said volunteer Braiden Smith, 16.

In the past, this same church has sent youth groups to such faraway places as Mexico, Bolivia and Peru to do this kind of work. But they say the need is just as great, right here in our own backyard.

"Well I think a lot of people feel like if they want to help anyone, um, they have to go across the world and they really don't. God calls us to help our neighbors,"  said volunteer Jessi Butler, 18.

These teens hope working on this jogging path at Mace Park will put them on the "path" to helping others.

"When our students, when our church sees a need they definitely want to do something about it," said student pastor Kevin Wilson.

Thursday afternoon from 2:30 til 7pm the teens are having a free chicken BBQ for the public and will be giving away school supplies to needy youngsters.  This event will be held at the Belle Glade Housing Authority Okeechobee Center on State Road 80 in Belle Glade.