THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 10, 1994 TAG: 9407100105
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: AHOSKIE LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Hundreds of teenagers from across the country are gathering in Hertford County this weekend.
They'll spend their summer-vacation ``break'' sleeping on hard high school floors after baking under intense sun rays all day fixing leaky roofs, replacing broken windows and caulking drafty doorways in homes without air conditioning.
They'll also each pay $300 for the experience.
The youngsters are members of the Coastal Plains Workcamp sponsored by Colorado-based Group Publishing, which has dispatched similar groups to needy areas of the United States since 1971.
``What we're trying to do with this program is provide some preservation and weatherization assistance,'' said Sallie Surface, executive director of the Choanoke Area Development Association.
Surface worked with a Group Workcamp a few years ago when it came to Halifax County on a similar mission.
``Some of the same people, you will find, come to different Workcamps every summer,'' she said.
Between 300 and 400 young volunteers, who come from churches as far away as Michigan and Minnesota, will repair 69 homes scattered throughout Hertford County, including houses in Harrellsville, Como, Murfreesboro and Ahoskie.
Each will work from about 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., bringing bag lunches with them for their noon break. Evenings will be spent eating, socializing and, no doubt, resting after a trying day's work.
Special events, such as a pig pickin', where they will barbeque a pig, and a tour of a working farm, are being arranged.
``I'm not sure how much of a culture shock it is for them,'' Surface said. ``A lot depends on whether they are from an urban center or not.
``What they want is the opportunity to work, but also to share and work with others.''
Opportunities to help are plentiful in Hertford County, which is about an hour's drive from Elizabeth City.
The county's income per capita of $18,180 ranked 94th among the state's 100 counties, according to 1990 U.S. Census data.
``Hertford County is one of the counties in North Carolina that has the highest percentage of low-income families living in substandard housing,'' Surface said.
``It's not a new problem,'' she added. ``It's a problem that's been here a while.''
With the effort of the Group Workcamp volunteers, Surface and others hope conditions for the county's elderly, disabled and needy will improve. by CNB