Jesse Lee Church in Ridgefield Cancels Summer Service Project

RIDGEFIELD, CT — The Jesse Lee Appalachia Service Project, held each summer, has been canceled, following the decision by the national parent group to forgo its summer volunteer program this year.

The cancellation affects about 280 Ridgefield-area teens and adults registered for the 2020 mission trip, which had been scheduled for June 27-July 5.

Appalachia Service Project is a national Christian organization that provides volunteer home repair in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina, and is sponsored locally by Jesse Lee Church.

This would have been the 37th year for Jesse Lee ASP in Ridgefield, which is the second-largest local ASP organization in the U.S.

"This was a very very difficult decision," said Walter Crouch, national CEO of ASP, in a video statement. "Our main motivation here is that we do not want ASP to be used in any way to facilitate the spread of this deadly virus, especially to central Appalachia, where many of our homeowners are part of vulnerable populations in an area where the health care isn't always the best."

Volunteers who were registered for this year’s Jesse Lee ASP trip have been sent emails explaining options regarding funds they raised, including the choice of letting the money remain as tax-deductible donations. Jesse Lee ASP will send that money to the national ASP headquarters in Tennessee to help sustain its now-threatened year-round operation, while also retaining some dollars to fund the construction of wheelchair ramps needed locally.

"For those who have gone on ASP before, we know the joy that the trips bring, and to this year's first-timers, we are sad that your ASP experience is delayed," said Steve Coppock of Jesse Lee ASP. "But we do hope to still present opportunities to serve – such as the car washes and wheelchair ramp-building sessions – and also to celebrate our four-year high-school seniors, when it's finally safe to do so."