BEAUMONT, Texas — A group of Texas teenagers is going to spend their Spring Break giving back to the community and helping those in need.
Seventh and eighth graders from Longview are in the Golden Triangle helping to rebuild homes that suffered from devastating storms. They are members of a program called Bounce, which is a student disaster recovery program supported by Baptist churches throughout Texas.
The goal is to get children to give from their hearts and serve the community.
Volunteers are currently working on 11 homes in Southeast Texas. From painting to installing new floors, hundreds of teenagers will be completing projects on the homes.
"It feels good to give them a bible," Carson Palmer, student and Bounce volunteer, said. "And just felt really good to be a part of something to help people and do something positive rather than just sitting on a couch for a week."
The teenage volunteers are from churches all over Texas and work under adult supervision.
One home the students are working on is located along Broadmoor Drive in Beaumont. Harvey left the home damaged.
"We are taking out some siding, and we found some termite damage so we've some guys here to figure out how to treat that," Will Hagle, youth minister at Marbury Baptist Church in Longview, said. "We also have some flooring being pulled up and we are putting some flooring down inside. Hopefully, we will be painting as well as some small things."
The volunteers have to remove rotten floors from the home and add a fresh coat of paint. Seeing the progress they make on the homes they work on makes the students happy.
"It's really good to see all the work we are doing is, like, paying off.," Addisyn Scott, student and Bounce volunteer, said. "Helping them see their home not being destroying and seeing how it was before, just seeing the smiles on their faces."
Hagle feels this is a great opportunity for the students to serve.
“We always want to give our students an option to serve, get them outside of their comfort zone,” Hagle said. “Most everything our church does, we mostly pour into them and this gives them an opportunity to pour out and serve."
The student volunteers will continue to serve the community through Bounce Tuesday and plan to return during the summer.