Clover-based Salkehatchie mission volunteers change the lives of others and their own

Fourteen-year-old Haleigh McSwain spend a life-changing week in Hickory Grove. It was her first mission trip, and Haleigh hopes it was just the first of many.

She was one of about a dozen Clover-based volunteers who spent the week with Salkehatchie, a summer youth mission of the South Carolina United Methodist Church.

The volunteers, both youth and adults from Methodist churches in York, Reidsville, Rock Hill, Irmo and Saluda, were hosted by First United Methodist Church in Clover.

“I felt God was calling me to do this, so I could tell others and maybe it could change their life, too,” said Haleigh, who lives in Reidsville.

The volunteers, who worked all week on a one-story Peachtree Street home owned by Mae Helen Harris, ripped out and replaced sagging flooring, removed and replaced a small addition, washed soot-stained walls, painted, established washer and drier hookups and made other improvements.

It was hard work, and when the week started, Haleigh said she wasn’t sure that she was up for it.

“When I first came here, I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to do this,” she said. “Once I started work, I realized that no job is too big if you have God by your side.”

Evelyn Cameron, a First UMC Clover member who has helped organize the Clover Salkehatchie mission for six years, knows it does a lot of good.

“People in the community, they need help,” said Cameron.

Most of the requests she receives involve working on trailers or doing roofing, which are not covered by nonprofit housing rehab groups, she said.

“I know it’s right in my backyard,” she said about the need.

Chaslyne Axley, an 18-year-old recent graduate of York Comprehensive High School, said she is in her second year of Salkehatchie service.

“It’s a great experience,” Axley said. “You not only get to meet people from other places, from other backgrounds, but you get to help somebody. You get to make a difference in somebody’s life.”

Axley said she took classes in building construction at YCHS. At the Hickory Grove home, she helped tear off and reconstruct a small rear addition that was a fire hazard because there was no rear exit. She also helped tear out and replace sagging flooring and floor joists.

“It’s not easy,” she said. “But I like to stay busy and you definitely stay busy.”

Kaitlyn Pless, a 20-year-old youth leader from Greer, is in her seventh year of Salkehatchie service. Pless believes the power of Salkehatchie to change lives, both for volunteers and for recipients.

“It’s the best part of the summer,” she said.

Pless said the mission made a big difference in her life, in part by showing her the challenges others face. “It’s given me a different foundation than anything else in life,” she said.

Now that she’s a youth leader, Pless said she hopes that Salkehatchie can make a difference for the youth group she leads, “changing their lives the way it changed mine.”

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Clover-based Salkehatchie mission volunteers change the lives of others and their own."