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Ryan Stiffelman is happy to tell you that he knows how to build a sink.
To me, its shockingly fun to build sinks all day, said Stiffelman, 17, a senior at New Canaan High School. I sort of became a plumber.
Hes even prouder to tell you that he spent his February vacation making a difference. Stiffelman was one of more than 160 children with the Congregational Church of New Canaan who took part in the churchs annual mission trip.
This years trip brought the youngsters to Chicago to work with Casa Central, an organization that runs a temporary apartment complex for homeless families transitioning to permanent housing. The students, many from New Canaan High School and other area schools, spend the week renovating 11 apartments in Casa Centrals La Posada complex. The students did most of the work, from tearing down old cabinets to installing new kitchen tiles. Church Youth Director Chris Guda said the apartments had not been renovated in 25 years.
While other NCHS students spend time with recreational activities, Stiffelman said it was great to build up relationships with his fellow church mission members and the families they assisted. He and others went with some of the apartments occupants to shop for home accessories.
Theres a saying in YG (the Congregational Church's Youth Group program) that God is love. When youre on the trip on trip, you feel that, Stiffelman said. Its amazing how its been able to bring people together from so many walks of life.
Keri DeTullio, 17, also a senior at NCHS, said she enjoyed the renovating and learning new skills, including installing new carpeting. She mostly enjoyed making someones life a little better and sharing time with her fellow church volunteers. The trip was a bonding experience since all the volunteers were without cell phones or access to the Internet.
We did a lot of work, but we had a lot of fun, DeTullio said. Its a very, very rewarding experience. You give love and you get love. Im nothing but filled with joy with everything thats happened.
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