Trinity High School seniors

LEESBURG - Wed Feb 3 2010 - The Trinity High School seniors climbed out of the bus Wednesday and gathered in a big semi-circle, shivering in the morning chill. They giggled self-consciously, then listened as the project manager explained how a modern day miracle came to pass.

Chester Wood explained how the old Big Bass motel had undergone "several lives" in the past. "The last one, if your parents heard you were here, they'd probably kill you," he said.

Instead, parents of the 40-plus students will be proud they were making a difference for homeless families by scraping floors, chipping up tiles, moving old cabinets and shearing old plants to turn the 1954 motel into The Samaritan Inn.

"Our job as citizens is to give back," said Rebecca Powell. "We were made to help, made to love."

More than 400 of the school's students were assigned to various public service projects as part of Catholic Schools Week, said Teresa Degen, director of mission effectiveness at the Ocala school.

Teacher Bill Burns said his students especially wanted to volunteer for this project.

"It's unique and it will have a long-term effect. They will be coming through Leesburg one day and see the completed project and say, ‘I helped do that,' " Burns said.

Burns and the Degens (Jim is the campus minister) attend St. Timothy's Catholic Church in The Villages, whose parishioners decided to help financially and by volunteering.

The project came about when the First Baptist Church of Leesburg's Christian Care Center bought the old motel last summer.

The Christian Care Center also operates shelters for children, women and men on its property right next door off U.S. 27, as well as a benevolence center, pregnancy care center, medical and counseling centers.

Scott Dowling, volunteer coordinator for St. Timothy's, said last week about 50 volunteers, many from his church, slapped on a coat of paint.

About 20 students from Shores Christian Academy also pitched in.

Planners hope the site will open this spring.

Priscilla Bejarano, 17, said she "loves the idea of turning the place into a home for the homeless and taking any slander [from its former reputation] and using it for something good."

Tyler Seaman, 18, noted that "because the economy is in a pretty bad state, it offers help to people who need things big time."

Levaris Sims, 17, a football player who likes to volunteer, is headed for a career in marketing.

"I love talking," he said. "I love to help people. I try to put a smile on other people's faces."

Many said they jumped at the chance to travel to another community, but for Clint Courtney, 18, of Leesburg, it was a chance to do something for the city where he lives.

Some of youngsters, like Ashley Ryan, 17, seem wise beyond their years.

"Sometimes people need a push like this to help them move on to something else," she said of the families who will be able to change their lives in a variety of ways.

For Ashley and the others, it wasn't just talk. She and her friends used paint stripper and snow shovels to gather up piles of organic-looking carpet glue.

Some see reaching out to others as the beginning of a lifetime pursuit.

Frankie Velez, 18, may end up as a kicker on the University of Florida football team. He likes the idea of pro and top college players helping a good cause, but the only name that immediately came to mind was Tim Tebow.

The former Gator is set to air an ad during the Super Bowl game promoting life over abortion.

"Freedom of speech," said Velez, who agrees with the message. "That's the future of America,'' he said, referring to the unborn.

Ian Ignacio, 18, likes helping others.

"It just makes you feel good," he said. "We are all destined to help each other out. If all we're doing is catering to each other, that's not right."

Burns agrees and cites Matthew 25:35-40, which reads in part: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." (NIV)

The passage is atop the Inn's Web site - www.Samaritan-Inn.org - which tells people how they can contribute.

"Thanks for letting us help," one student said as the work party broke up.

"There is hope in this future generation," Wood said. "There is hope."

Article published on Star Banner dated 2/4/2010

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