Update 3: 2026 youth mission trip
Jen, Henry, Andrew, Chris, Libsy and Baxter
We were back to our regular wake up call Thursday, along with a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, and chocolate chip pancakes. We had to wait out a storm but despite trying our best to let it pass, it rained off and on for the better part of the day.
Andrew and Henry
Crew #2 (Andrew, Henry, Libsy, Baxter, Chris and Jen) — Glenn and Teresa, who have run the Hurley Community Development Center for decades, asked for help cleaning out a family member’s home. Glenn’s sister Kim passed away in March and her home has been untouched since. Struggling with health issues and addiction, Kim’s house is in a state of disrepair. The crew took some of the salvageable cabinets, furniture, and other smaller items out to a storage facility then helped to tear down drywall and pull up flooring. Helping Glenn and Teresa with a job that would have taken them all summer to complete made a difficult day a little more manageable. They’re planning to go back tomorrow to do a bit more.
Crew #1 (James, Carson, Ava, Easton, Charlie and Father Ben) — This team split up, with part of the crew removing flooring from Kim’s house while the remaining crew members joined Crew #3 …
Crew #3 (Alex, Lauralee, Beckett, Wyatt, Margy and Ryan) — Despite the rainy conditions, Crew #3 had extra help from Ava, Easton and Charlie as they finished scraping and began painting Tina’s house. We’ll be back Friday to finish painting and prepping work for the St. James’ Richmond team, who will be arriving next week.
Dutch Blitz
We had a big spaghetti dinner and the usual assortment of desserts. The evening continued with small group discussions to reflect on our days and a lively game of Dutch Blitz, a mission trip evening tradition. Lauralee and Libsy dominated by winning five games tonight!
About the trip
Thirteen young people and five adults from Saint James’ are in Hurley, Virginia, from Monday, June 15, to Saturday, June 20, 2026, on a volunteer trip to support the work of Hurley Community Development, a nonprofit dedicated to helping the residents of this isolated and economically disadvantaged community stay in their homes.
