Cherokee YMCA Gets a Facelift From Service-minded Teens

On a cold, windy Saturday morning in late October, 195 teenagers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Cumming, Georgia area, traveled to Woodstock, Georgia as part of their youth conference. While weekend youth conferences usually include dances, inspirational speakers and break-out classes, this one focused on community service.

Buffy Coddington, President of the Young Women’s organization in the Coal Mountain Stake said, “We have such a great group of youth who truly love to serve! When we gathered our youth council together to plan our 2018 youth conference, they asked if we could serve the community. We’re so grateful that we can serve with organizations like the YMCA that focus on families and are such an invaluable resource for our community.

A youth committee, comprised of 20-30 youth planned the entire conference. Steve Anderson, an adult leader from Johns Creek, serves as the secretary for the Young Men’s organization in the area. Anderson said, “We are focusing on youth lead leadership. We build up the youth and train them. On the day of the service project, each work group has a youth project manager that works with an adult. We mentor them very closely and never let them fail. Like our relationship with the Savior, we fall short and he does the rest. We do the same with the youth. We carry them the rest of the way.”

James Loveland (15) is a Cumming resident who attends West Forsyth High School. He was the videographer for the large group of youth. When asked about the youth committee, he said, “It was a great opportunity! Every youth is allowed a voice. We can speak out.” Then he shared, “Service is a good opportunity for youth to bond. This is a way to get to know each other.”

Scott Winchell, property director at the Cherokee Outdoor YMCA in Woodstock, Georgia was on site to answer questions, hand out tools and make sure the volunteers had everything they needed to make the service project a success. Winchell shared, the YMCA has been there since 1992, but the lodge and other facilities were built in the 1950’s and were in need of sprucing up. Located on 225 acres on Lake Allatoona, the YMCA serves 500 kids a day in the summer and is open during school breaks. With a climbing tower, pool, horseback riding, volleyball, water sports on the lake, and five miles of trails, there are plenty of ways to to have fun.

It took a year to plan this event. It was cancelled last year due to hurricane clean-up where many of the youth provided relief. Connor Ashliman (17) is from Gainesville and attends North Forsyth High School. Ashliman is not a novice when it comes to service. He helped with hurricane clean up in Louisiana. He recently helped in Florida and North Carolina with the hurricane relief efforts. “There’s tons of work to do in Florida. It feels good to know you are helping other people. It’s nice to help out the community and I”m grateful for the opportunity.”

Many willing hands and youthful energy descended on the YMCA campus to paint buildings inside and out, demo and remodel a concession stand, clear the ever-growing underbrush, trees and vines from the trail leading to the lake.

Dawn Redd (17), a Cumming resident, was happy to be of service doing cobweb clean-up and paint prep on the outside of the lodge. “I want to be a good example to my siblings.” What was the best part? “I love that we are doing something for youth. We can really understand what it means to the community. Something concrete.”

Supplies such as equipment and tools were brought to the site thanks to a collaboration between the YMCA and the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints Coal Mountain Stake. A stake is a group of congregations in the Cumming, Dahlonega, Blairsville and Murphy, NC areas.

It was a beehive of activity with the sound of chainsaws, hammers, paint brushes rolling and good natured laughter all around. Despite the frigid wind, many teenagers were sweating in short sleeved t-shirts with the exertion of manual labor and the goal to finish the huge project in one day.

Kyla Doyle from Suwanee shared, “I had the pleasure to be a Project Manager in this year’s Youth Conference. I helped design the room by picking the paint colors, choosing light fixtures, and choosing the art project to go in the rooms. I was amazed to see my design come to life, but that wasn’t the best part. The most amazing part was seeing my group come together and serve. I was able to see each of us being the Lord’s hands to help the YMCA. The service we did made me and others feel so much joy and peace. I am so grateful I had this opportunity.”