This week, Trinity students volunteered with Hand in Hand Ministries to help people in need in west Louisville. From April 14 to the 16, ten students from each house went to a preselected spot in Portland, where they helped to repair or build new wheelchair ramps. This goal of the project was to help those who are bound to wheelchairs to both come in and go out from their homes when they otherwise could not.
The work that these Trinity students did was hard and they had to be precise. Mr. Chris Luken, the Assistant Campus Minister, confirmed this. “We were teaching the students how to use power tools in a safe manner. We were teaching them the kind of ins and outs there of how we built these ramps to code. You weren’t just throwing wood up there…” After they finished the wheelchair ramp and made sure it was safe to use and up to code, they got to work on the rest of the house. “We looked around the house and saw what else needed to be done. Was the backyard overgrown? Could we cut the grass? Could we pull weeds? Could we trim back overgrown hedges? Just to make their life in general a little bit easier and their property more accessible.” All the work that they did went toward making the lives of others better, which was a big part of what made work like theirs special.
Trinity High School has been doing spring trips like the ones happening this week for four years now. Trinity’s Campus Ministry has long been doing fundraising for Dare to Care during the fall semester, and they wanted to get involved in a program to volunteer in the spring as well. This gives Trinity students the opportunity to complete more service hours as well as giving them the opportunity to make a difference. The decision was made then to join in on Hand in Hand Ministries’ spring program. Mr. Luken explained that ever since then “we started having them come in, explain what they do, meet with people from advising groups, and then the representative for one advising group talks to the whole advising group and we start our draft.”
There are many reasons why Trinity chose Hand in Hand Ministries to work with, with one of the biggest being the efforts of Michael Budniak, Trinity’s advanced-level biology teacher. Mr. Budniak firmly believes in the good that Hand in Hand does, helping to lead many different student trips to areas where Hand in Hand Ministries operates, such Appalachia and Belize. Last year, Mr. Budniak led a summer trip to Nicaragua, where Trinity students worked to build a new home for a family in need. Mr. Budniak said, “These are very basic types of facilities…maybe four or 500 square feet, but it’s walls. It’s a roof. It’s a locked door. It’s a bathroom. It’s a bedroom that somebody has never had before ever.” Then, at the end of the week when the Trinity students had finished, they gave the house over to the family. “To turn over a set of keys to somebody and the joy that is there of knowing that they’ve got a safe place for themselves and their family. There’s nothing like that in the world of knowing you’ve just helped to provide that for somebody that you’ve never known before.”
Mr. Budniak worked very closely with Trinity’s campus ministry “just to make sure, you know, does this fit in the mission of our school?” According to Mr. Luken, “Yes, Hand in Hand does.” Now Trinity offers many different programs with Hand in Hand Ministries, such as the Nicaragua trip in the summer, the April days of service, as well as any other opportunities that may come up.
Trinity’s relationship with Hand in Hand Ministries has developed immensely into something that is able to help many people in need. The volunteer work that this relationship offers is not easy, but according to Mr. Budniak, it is well worth it: “It is a lasting impact for life of knowing what you can accomplish. And that’s why they do, and that’s why it [Trinity] will continue to be an advocate for these guys, whether I’m here or not.” Both Mr. Luken and Mr. Budniak believe in the uniqueness of Hand in Hand Ministries as a program. It is not just some other charity, but rather a local program that is truly getting work done both in Kentucky and across the world. According to Mr. Luken, “Overall, they are a great organization that provide help for a lot of different people and a lot of different places.”
If you are interested in being a part of the work that Hand in Hand Ministries does, Hand in Hand’s Appalachia trips are excellent programs to get involved in.
If you wish to be a part of those trips or to donate to Hand in Hand’s cause, click here.
