KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Trading in their sweaters for t-shirts and flip flops, a group from Virginia is in Central Florida, and they aren’t taking a vacation. Instead, they’re volunteering their time to help families in need.
- Volunteers from Virginia repair Kissimmee home
- Home belongs to church who helps displaced Puerto Rican families
- The group cleaned, painted and built new furniture
Two of the volunteers are seniors in high school. While their friends may be sleeping in or hanging out, Parker Bunting and Olivia Harrington are spending their spring break fixing up a home.
“We heard that there were a lot of Puerto Rican evacuees that came to Florida,” said Harrington as she painted a wall inside the home.
The home belongs to a local church in Kissimmee that’s been helping more than a 100 families displaced by Hurricane Maria.
“It’s terrible that this happened to people. They lost a lot (of) what they owned, you know … the littlest we can do (is) just to help out,” Bunting said.
The church has hosted the mission group and is very thankful for their work.
“We’ve been serving, people have been coming here, we’ve been giving out, and it’s amazing,” said Maria Rodriguez, lead volunteer coordinator at St. John’s Episcopal Church.
As part of the mission trip, both seniors have cleaned, painted and built new furniture for this home that will serve so many families.
The group even got a chance to meet some of these families, who cooked for them in appreciation.
“We had some Puerto Rican food, and I loved the Spanish rice they made; it was great,” Bunting said.
It’s a spring break they will never forget.
“In a world of hate, you know, you can do something so little, and that brings so much love into a community. So people need to come and do this and experience it. It’s a one in a lifetime kind of experience,“ Harrington said.