DeKALB – For the past two years, Boy Scouts from Troop 33 have spent spring break on a special service project in Kentucky, helping to turn an abandoned high school into a national disaster resource center.
The former Hughes-Kirk High School in Beechmont, Ky., is becoming a disaster resource center known as HIS House, operated by God’s Kitchen Inc., a faith-based organization dedicated to disaster relief work.
HIS House will be used as a distribution center, a training center for disaster relief and first responder volunteers and a central warehouse to organize disaster relief items. It will also serve as an emergency shelter and central communication center.
Over the past year, the partially-completed center has been coordinating the delivery of food and clothing to earthquake victims in Haiti.
In past years, Troop 33 Scouts have responded to relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ike.
They began their current project during spring break of 2010, returning to Kentucky again last March.
Scouts cleaned up the grounds, unloaded truckloads of equipment and supplies, moved equipment and cleared and cleaned classrooms.
After their daylong work projects, Scouts found fun in the evenings, enjoying television, ping pong, foosball, basketball and other games.
Scouts also visited Fort Knox, explored Mammoth Cave and toured the Corvette assembly plant and museum.
The eight-day trip was packed with hard work and play. Since the project began last year, 11 Scouts and three adult leaders have contributed more than 700 hours of service work and raised more than $3,250 to help a cause in which they believe.
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