Students Dedicate Spring Break to Helping The Salvation Army

When spring break arrives, many students and families take the opportunity to go on vacation or simply relax at home. However, this wasn’t the case for 30 high school students from Steinbach’s Emmanuel Evangelical Free Church.

The group chose to spend their week off volunteering with The Salvation Army’s Community Venture in Winnipeg, a day program that originally supported adults with intellectual disabilities and recently expanded to include programming for children, seniors and families. This inclusive space offers life-skills training, recreational activities and community connections for people of all ages.

The students were all part of a local program called SOAR, which brings teens from different churches together to engage in community service. Involvement with The Salvation Army has become a tradition each spring break.

“Over the years, I went from having 10 youth volunteers to this year having 30,” says Florence Quan, director of day programs at Community Venture. “It’s amazing to see that.”

“It is a great experience to come and help the community and meet everyone here.”

From Monday to Thursday, volunteers helped run the programs. In the first couple of days, they assisted with the Kids’ Club program and, later in the week, participated in intergenerational programming with local seniors, took part in family fun activities with parents involved in the Healthy Baby program and hosted a barbeque for the community.

“Without them being part of our spring break week, we wouldn’t have been able to run the program for the kids, just because we didn’t have enough staff,” Florence adds. With 30 volunteers, the 40 children in the program basically received one-on-one attention.

In the seniors’ program, the volunteers helped organize a fun game of Jeopardy. Some of the seniors even reconnected with students.

“It was neat to see that some of the seniors remembered some students from last year,” Florence shares.

“It’s great for the youth to experience this ministry and learn what the needs are around the city.”

It’s common for students to return each spring break. This was the case for Alexa, 15, who took part in the ministry for a second year in a row.

“I came last year, and I had an incredible time. I was able to get closer to God and friends. It is a great experience to come and help the community and meet everyone here,” Alexa says.

For other students, this was their first time participating. Summer, 15, was inspired to join after hearing about the program’s impact.

“I’ve heard so many members of my church talk about it and mention how incredible the experience was, so I wanted to try it myself,” Summer says.

The work of these high schoolers sets a strong example for the community.

“It’s great for the youth to experience this ministry and learn what the needs are around the city. They are the next generation and the future,” Florence says.

By Juan Romero