Volunteers from Alabama Campers on Mission recently completed their annual workweek at Shocco Springs, providing essential help in several areas.
COM project leaders Danny and Vickie Stevens, along with Steve Butler, led 38 people for two weeks in September for a total of 1,970 volunteer hours as they organized a lost and found yard sale; assembled metal towel hangers, blanket holders and bathroom tissue holders for Shocco Inn; built a rack for hanging towels at the pool area; installed lights on the second floor of Bagley Center; constructed a wall in the warehouse; and folded laundry.
“One of our biggest enjoyments in Campers on Mission is coming to Shocco and working twice a year,” Danny Stevens said. Vickie Stevens added, “Our COM group serving at Shocco is always the largest group of people that we have in any of the projects where Danny and I work.”
Campers on Mission is just what its name implies — a missions-minded group of people who serve faithfully in various projects around the state and country each year. COM visits Shocco twice a year, in April and September, and assists with projects all over campus. Volunteer Glenn Whiddon, now in his 24th year in COM, said his first COM workweek at Shocco was in 1999.
‘Extended family’
Fall 2022 saw two new COM couples join the crew, most of whom have served at Shocco in the past. Twelve of the COM couples said they have Shocco on their “must-do” list and make it a priority to be at the workweek. Shocco staff members say COM members are like extended family members.
The team was delighted when a California couple visiting friends in the area came by to chat with the COM members and tour Shocco. The woman had worked at Shocco as a Resident Summer Staff member when she was a teen. COM volunteer Wintford Haynes remembered working with her father, Roy Ridenhaur, who was one of the charter members of Alabama COM.
A long-standing tradition for the COM volunteers is the ice cream social, held on the last night of the workweek. This year, eight different kinds of homemade ice cream were on the menu, and volunteers had a wonderful time of fellowship before packing up their RVs and heading out to their next assignment.
Russell Klinner, executive director of Shocco Springs, said “Shocco employees love and appreciate our friends in Campers on Mission.”
“We are always grateful for the many ways they bless us with their time, effort and skills,” he said.
Learn more about Alabama Campers on Mission here.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Adapted with permission from the newsletter of Shocco Springs.
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