FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sara Newell
Communications Intern
419-244-6711 x 149
snewell@toledodiocese.org
www.toledodiocese.org
CATHOLIC H.E.A.R.T. WORKCAMP TEENS BEGIN WEEK LONG SERVICE PROJECT TO BENEFIT TOLEDO AREA
June 11, 2009—TOLEDO— Approximately 300 teens from Georgia, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin arrive in Toledo this Sunday to participate in the Catholic H.E.A.R.T Workcamp (CHWC), a week long service project in Toledo and Oregon, Ohio. The campers will be using Cardinal Stritch High School in Oregon, Ohio as their home “base”. Their week of service begins on Sunday, June 14 with an opening mass at 9 p.m. at Cardinal Stritch High School, and closes on Saturday, June 20.
The campers will spend their week at 42 sites helping those in need in the Toledo area with projects that include painting, general home repairs, building two wheelchair ramps, installing windows, cleaning, landscaping, and gardening. They will also interact with children at local daycare centers for low income families, interact with the elderly, establish a Vacation Bible School for inner city children, organize donations and serve meals at shelters and outreach centers.
Local social agencies and organizations that are working in partnership with CHWC that comprise those 42 sites are:
Birmingham Development Corporation
Helping Hands of St. Louis
Toledo GROWs
YWCA of Greater Toledo Battered Women’s Shelter
Viva South Toledo
Little Sisters of the Poor
The Catholic Club
St. Paul’s Community Center
The Ability Center of Greater Toledo
Women Blessing Women
Assumption Outreach Center
The Padua Center
Over the next week, these high school students and their adult chaperones will have logged over 1800 volunteer service hours into the Cities of Toledo and Oregon.
The Catholic H.E.A.R.T Workcamp (CHWC) was founded 16 years ago by Steve and Lisa Walker, in Florida, where they supervised nearly 100 campers. Today, CHWC has grown to include more than 10,000 campers in 40 cities across the country including Jamaica and Mexico.
The CHWC program has two goals, the first is to provide an opportunity for teens to serve the community, the second is to present and environment where high school students can live out their Catholic faith.
For more information about the service efforts put forth from the Catholic H.E.A.R.T workcamp, call the Camp Managers: Bryce Roberts (419-345-6498) or Katie Cornell (419-360-1240).
The Diocese of Toledo, established April 15, 1910 encompasses 8222 square miles in a mixture of urban and rural areas that spans 19 counties across Northwest Ohio, serving 301,134 Catholics. The diocese includes Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot counties.
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