Salke-what? (and various other involvement adventures)

The summer I was 14, I was kidnapped, held against my will, and taken to Piedmont, South Carolina where I was forced to do hard labor for a week.

I loved every minute of it.

It sounds strange, I know, but that summer was the first year that I participated in Salkehatchie Summer Service, a service camp done in South Carolina with the United Methodist Church. Teenagers and young adults go to a town in South Carolina (there are 40 locations across the state) and work on houses in need of repair for a week. The goal is to make the houses safe, warm, and dry, but honestly, there's so much more to it than that.

You get so much more out of the experience than you could ever possibly put into it. You put in blood, sweat, and sometimes tears, but more often smiles. The experience really is indescribable. You start with this old, run-down house that isn't safe or warm or dry. Often times, the homeowners have been praying for years for someone to help them, because they can't pay for repairs themselves. You look at it and think, "How on earth are ten teenagers with no experience going to fix this house in five days?" Yet, in five days, you somehow manage to fix the foundation, put on a new roof, put siding on, paint, and anything else you can think of. After a couple of years, my friends and I started to referring to it as "The Salkehatchie Miracle." (We say that it's like Christmas, only better.)

After my first year, I kept going back. This past summer was my 5th year participating. I kept going back for the people, the experience, and everything about it. The years have just started to feel like time between Salkehatchies. I'm planning on sticking with Salkehatchie until the day I die.

Here's the house we worked on this year (before we started). It doesn't look that bad in the pictures, but the roof was caving in, the foundation was sagging, and the porch had to be completely re-screened and painted. In addition, there was a shed in the back of the house that collapsed and had to be cleared away. And here's the house after we finished!

So much better, yes? The only bad part of this year was that I sprained my ankle on Wednesday, so I had to stay on the ground the rest of the week. I found ways to help, though. I painted, cut roofcaps, etc. And it made for a good story. :)

Salkehatchie isn't the only service I'm passionate about, though. Leukemia research and stroke research are two causes that are very close to my heart. In 2005, my best friend Michael died from neuroblastoma, an extremely aggressive form of leukemia. Because of this, I dedicated my 16th birthday to Michael by having everyone donate money to neuroblastoma research instead of giving me gifts. In addition, one of the main reasons I joined my sorority, Delta Zeta, is because our chapter at USC has a local philanthropy project called Sweet Caroline, during which our chapter holds a huge blood and bone marrow drive. Last year they were able to add over 1,000 people to the National Bone Marrow Registry. In 2007, my father died from a massive stroke, which, as I found out later, is a fairly preventable disease, yet also one of the most devastating. Educating people about stroke and leukemia and doing things to help out are definitely things that are important to me, and I do everything I can to make a difference.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

--Ghandi

Keep it classy and fabulous!

xoxo, Laura

P.S. Click here to learn more about Salkehatchie Summer Service as a whole, and click here to learn about Piedmont Salkehatchie and see more pictures from Piedmont Salkehatchie 2009.

P.P.S. Click here to learn more about the American Stroke Association, here to read about neuroblastoma, and here to learn more about the Sweet Caroline Blood and Bone Marrow Drive.