Volunteers help post-Sandy recovery

While their friends were at the beach, enjoying the warm weather, a group of teens from South Carolina were working on top of a roof on East Pine Street.

A youth group from Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church in Lexington, S.C. spent last week in Long Beach, helping gut and repair an East Pine Street home. The group goes on a spring break mission trip every year. This year, they brought an enthusiastic group of about 20 high school students to the area to help with Sandy relief.

“It’s such a blessing to be able to help people,” said 16-year-old participant Cana Rainwater.

The kids did everything from ripping out rotten boards, fixing the floor, cleaning out under the house and replacing broken gutters. They drove up all day last Monday, stayed to work from Tuesday through Friday, and then drove the 750 miles back to South Carolina on Saturday.

“They did such an amazing job,” said neighbor Laura Yavorick. “You can’t even imagine how hard they worked. They were on top of the roof!”