Greenfield Hill Church Appalachia Service Project Trip

July 1 to July 8, 2017

After you have read through this information packet,

and made your decision, register for the 2017 ASP

trip online at www.greenfieldhillchurch (Click the

‘Mission and Outreach’ menu, and choose Appalachia

Service Trip). Registration opens at 8:00 p.m. on

Sunday, Nov. 6.

Registrations will be first come/first served. Our

spots with ASP are already booked for next year, based

on our best estimate, so once we have filled those up, we

will begin placing names on a waiting list.

A deposit of $103 ($100 check/cash) is due with

registration. Final payment of $464 ($450

check/cash) will be due by May 1, along with three

forms (detailed on last page).

A Quick Introduction to Greenfield Hill and ASP!

The 2017 Appalachia Trip (through Appalachia Service Project, Inc.) is a

mission trip sponsored by the Greenfield Hill Congregational Church for

participants in the Senior Pilgrim Fellowship (SPF) program at Greenfield

Hill. Any community youth are welcome to participate in SPF, and thereby to

register for the ASP trip! Please do note that SPF participation is a

requirement for the Appalachia trip.

Please also note that the trip participants will be assigned to three

different Appalachian counties during our week of service. While every

effort will be made to keep

in mind request for center

placements, each center is a

mix of ages, schools and

genders – it’s essential to

enter into this experience

with an openness to meeting

new people!

Greenfield Hill’s history

with ASP: Since 1978, the

Senior Pilgrim Fellowship

(SPF) has participated each

summer with the Appalachia

Service Project, a home-repair mission organization designed especially for

high school youth. This summer will be SPF’s 39th ASP mission trip!

ASP was originally a program of the United Methodist Church. Now an

independent non-profit, it is a Christian ministry open to all participants,

encouraging teens to understand their home repair work as “faith in action.”

In their own words: “ASP provides vital housing services to low-income

families living in Central Appalachia as well as transformational life

experiences to those we serve, volunteers offering their service,

congregations involved with ASP, and entire communities.”

ASP runs its summer program for eight weeks each summer, at work centers

throughout Tennessee and Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. Teens come

from all over the country to do their week of work. The work the teens do is

basic, simple home repair, appropriate for teens.

To learn more about ASP, visit their site at www.asphome.org

What are the requirements for ASP participation?

Any 9th through 12th grader who is an active member of SPF and fulfills the

requirements is welcome to register for the Appalachia trip!

o Regular attendance at Thursday evening SPF meetings.… Meetings are

6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Len Morgan Youth Barn, every Thursday

o Completion of the online registration, plus a letter to Alida explaining

your reasons for participation, plus a meeting with Alida over the

course of the year.

o Attendance at FOUR trip preparation meetings:

Sunday, Jan. 29 OR Wed. Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 26 OR Tues. Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 26 OR Tues. Mar. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday May 20: Construction workshops (times TBA)

- ALSO: Commissioning (Blessing) Service at Greenfield Hill Church,

Sunday June 25 at 9:30 a.m.

o Family participation/help with these fundraising events:

(1) Pancake Supper at Chip’s! February 13, 2017 … Participants will

be asked to help sell tickets/sponsorships to this fundraising supper.

(2) Auction for Appalachia – March 25 2017

Each participant family will be asked to contribute an item or a service

to the Auction … anything from gift certificates to tickets to vacation

homes is great and much appreciated!

(3) Dogwood Festival – May 12-14 2017

Appalachia participants run the hotdog/burger stand at the church’s

annual Dogwood Festival, taking place this year on May 7-8. Each

participant will be asked to sign up for a 3-hour shift at the Festival.

o Most important: your willingness to enter into the ‘Spirit’ of the

Appalachia Service Project, by working hard, showing love and

compassion, being open to others, and respecting the ASP organization

and its guidelines!

What Does the Trip Cost?

Our total trip will cost us

approximately $165,000.

Of this, almost $70,000

represents the costs of

transportation, including the

travel to Appalachia and the

vans used throughout the

week. The remainder is what

we pay to ASP for housing

and supplies.

Each youth participant is

asked to contribute $550

(cash/check price): a $100 deposit with the registration, and the remaining

$450 by May 1 2017. Please note that the deposit is non-refundable – and

the payment of $450 cannot be refunded after June 1. (at that point, all

payments have been made to ASP). Because youth payments cover only half

of the total trip cost, each participant is also asked to participate in the

fundraisers (listed on previous page), which raise the remaining costs.

What actually happens during the trip?

On Saturday, July 1 all participants meet at Greenfield Hill Church at 6:30 a.m.

Four coach buses will take us to Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia, where we

spend the first night of the trip in the college dorms.

On Sunday, July 2, after morning worship together, we break into our work

crew, each with its own van, and travel to three separate counties in West

Virginia.

From Monday to Friday (July 3-7), we will begin every day with breakfast and

devotions, work on our homes from 8 to 4, and then be back together in the

evening for free time, dinner, chores, and ‘evening gathering.’ – A typical day:

On Saturday, July 8: Around 7 a.m., we will leave our work centers in the

morning, return to Roanoke to catch the bus home … arriving in Fairfield around

11:00 p.m. .

Sunday evening, July 9: “Welcome-

home” dinner at Greenfield Hill

Church!

What’s the actual work like?

A little bit of everything! painting …

ditch-digging… roof repair roof

construction… plumbing … adding a new

room… fixing rotting floors… building

a porch

You will be expected to work hard, for

sure! But you will be able to do it. ASP

chooses its projects with teens in

mind; unlike other home-building ministries, ASP has always been geared

toward teen participants. The tasks selected are those which young teens can

do, and do well.

Are participants with their friends?

Because our group is so large (33 work crews this year), we are divided into

three different county centers. The center groups are divided to ensure a

mix of ages, gender and ASP experience at each county. You are given the

chance to let us know some names of people you would hope to be with … and we

will bear these in mind. But please note that each center is a mix of ages,

schools and genders – it’s

essential to enter into this

experience with an

openness to meeting new

people!

Each participant is assigned

to a particular work crew, a

mix of age, gender and

experience. A crew is made

up of 5 youth and 2 adult

advisors … and you are

guaranteed to make new

friends!

How many adult chaperones are there, and who are they?

The adult/youth ratio on the trip is quite low: 2 adults for every 5 youth. With

an anticipated youth participation rate of 155 kids this year, we will need at

least 62 adult advisors to accompany them. These adults come from the

church community and the community as a whole: we especially welcome

interested parents to participate, as well as older siblings, teachers, and

others who have an interest in serving others side-by-side with our teenagers.

Any adults interested in coming along should get in in touch with – we need you!

HOW TO SIGN UP!

To begin the registration process, please go to the Greenfield Hill

Church ASP page at:

http://www.greenfieldhillchurch.com/appalachia-trip-2017/

The registration link will be live as of November 6 at 8:00 p.m.

Registration includes:

1) Completing the online form

2) Making a deposit of $103 ($100 check/cash)

3) Sending an email to Alida explaining your interest in the trip

4) Signing up for a personal meeting with Alida

Registrations will be first come/first served. Our spots with ASP are

already booked for next year, based on our best estimate, so once we have

filled those up, we will begin placing names on a waiting list.

Final payment of $464 ($450 check/cash) will be due on May 1, along

with ASP’s required release form, which must be notarized, and

Greenfield Hill Church’s waiver. Friend requests are also due by May 1.

All three of these forms will be available on the ASP page.