Spring Salkehatchie planned for April 1-6

By Jessica Brodie

This April, United Methodists will have the chance to gather for a weeklong Spring Salkehatchie mission experience in Bennettsville.

Set for April 1-6, the week will be what Board Chair Ward Smith calls “a full-blown Salkehatchie.”

Youth ages 14 and older will team up with adults to work on homes in that community for people in desperate need of home repairs.

Smith said Spring Salkehatchie is designed to be like the summer Salkehatchie weeks. The cost is the same, $250, and requires registration as well as, for adults, a background check. Salkehatchie Summer Service, which started in 1978, is a weeklong mission experience that enables teens and adults to repair houses for people in need across South Carolina.

He said the idea hit him this summer when he was touring Salkehatchie sites and talking to people, and he learned that many school districts are shifting to a modified year-round school calendar. This would shorten summer for some to four weeks, eliminating some people’s ability to participate in the traditional summer Salkehatchie experience.

The Spring Salkehatchie won’t eliminate a summer camp but will simply be an extra set of weeks so we can respond to needs in this state,” Smith said.

He noted that so far there has been a lot of interest.

“My hope is it will give people the opportunity to participate in Salkehatchie who don’t have that opportunity currently because of year-round school, or because they need to do a Salkehatchie experience when it is not so hot,” Smith added.

Smith said planning is also in the works to add short-term mission events across the state, as well.

Registration is going on now for Spring Salkehatchie. The deadline is March 15.

To request paperwork to sign up, email [email protected].