has been more than a rewarding factor. “As for the staff, it’s also really awesome to see. We get to see all of these projects through completion. Each group of teens is only here for a week, so they may only see this camp. The pastor here at First Baptist, Jason Hay, has been with the camp for 15 to 20 years, and has just had awesome experiences with TEAMeffort, so he wanted to host a camp in his community after seeing the need,” said Olesky. “The church has just been super awesome and pouring into us and getting us connected with people in the community. And the groups have been amazing. The community has been super welcoming to us. They are all just sharing who we are with people and pointing us to our people in need. And it’s really cool to see the community band together, even if they weren’t affected by the tornado, just to be able to build up their neighbors and offer them help in any way that they can.” During the first week of being in La Center, TEAMeffort went around knocking door to door, just trying to find people that they could serve. Building a new deck or offering a free roof, free of cost – they just wanted to help. “Near Barlow, we had a moment that one deck done. However the staff is here all summer,” said Olesky. “They get to see the deck done, but also the house repaired, the roof redone, and the impact that it has, not only for the homeowner, but for the community as well.” Just two weeks in, Olesky is over- whelmed with joy seeing how many people have called and asked for their help. The word that TEAMeffort is here to assist has spread like wildfire. “You can go in anywhere, in La Center for example, and just hear people talking about TEAMeffort,” said Olesky. “It’s just a really cool experience from a staff viewpoint getting to see how much these volunteers are influencing the whole community and not just one homeowner.” Each week, between 110 and 200 students come to camp. By the end of the summer, TEAMeffort hosts from 1,500 to 2,000 teens for a total of eight weeks in the summer. This summer, they are staying within a renovated preschool building that now serves as a housing facility. “The church has really been pouring into really stuck with me. I was driving around trying to find places that we could serve. I knocked on this one lady’s door because her deck was falling apart and we wanted to help,” said Olesky. “She just broke down.” Little did TEAMeffort know, her three- year-old grandchild comes over all the time. But she was too scared to let them out on the deck since it was falling apart, and it left them nowhere to play outside. “She said she didn’t want to keep them inside all summer, but she lost her job due to COVID-19 and things have just been hitting her very hard after that. She hadn’t been about to repair anything,” said Olesky. In TEAMeffort fashion, they were able to not only build her a brand new deck and clean up her yard, but they built her an entirely new playset for her grandchild. “She just broke down in tears, telling us that this is what she had been praying for. Praying for someone, praying for us, to come and serve and offer this help,” said Olesky. “It was something so small for us to do, but for her, this was a life-changing thing and now her grandchild will have a place to play. It’s something the child probably won’t remember 10 years from now, but for right now – that’s huge.” Olesky’s heart lies within disaster relief. For the previous two years, TEAMeffort has been in North Carolina, helping the remaining needs from Hurricane Florence. Therefore, he always wants to jump in and help when he hears about natural disasters that hit communities. . The TEAMeffort Western Kentucky camp was already in existence, prior to the December 10 tornadoes. For summer 2022, they were already planning to come to La Center to do community outreach and rebuild anything anyone in the area was struggling with. Michael Olesky preps those staying in the mission field that week for the day ahead. 82 JULY 2022 | PROMOTING EVENTS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE | INTHEVUE.COM
