This summer, Inland Christian Home was honored to receive a visit from a dedicated group of teenagers eager to help the community through their service to the Lord. The group was part of a nationwide program known as TASC (Teens Actively Serving Christ), which was hosted by the First United Reformed Church of Chino.
TASC gives youths a chance to improve the lives of others while coming together with like-minded individuals and exploring new places. The program, which consists of week-long projects scheduled each summer, is spearheaded by the Federation of United Reformed Churches in North America. Interested teens from churches across the country are invited to apply for a spot in a TASC Week project and choose from a variety of locations around the country and abroad.
The group that visited Inland Christian Home this summer represented a variety of regions, such as Northern California, Michigan, and Iowa. This year’s TASC group, which consisted of thirty-six students and chaperones, spent an entire day at Inland Christian Home on June 27th cleaning the area around the cottages. They worked to clean the stucco, wash down windows, and clean patios along with the patio furniture.
The resident response to the visit was a positive one. Not only did the cottages get some extra TLC, but the residents enjoyed the chance to interact with the teens and their chaperones. “They seemed to be doing this from the heart,” said Dianne Turnbow, a cottage resident since 2016. “It was just a joy to have them.”
Like other residents, she was impressed by how well-organized the group was and how thorough they were. Not only did they do a thorough job of cleaning the patios, which also included pulling a few wayward weeds, but they also made sure to take before photos of each patio so they could replace the furniture just like they found it after everything was cleaned.
This isn’t the first time Inland has received visits from TASC groups, and it likely won’t be the last. Member churches of the URC Federation take turns hosting TASC groups each summer, thus giving participating teens the chance to visit different parts of the country.
After a week of service projects which included volunteering at the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles and Isaiah’s Rock, a local ministry that provides food, clothing, hygiene products, and emergency shelter to those in need, the TASC group closed out their week in Southern California with a day at Balboa Beach. While the visiting teens have since returned home, there is no doubt that the service they provided will long be remembered by ICH and its residents.