By Sarah Sticklen
news@joplinglobe.com
When a family at their church lost a home after the recent Haiti earthquake, the members of youth groups at First United Methodist Church Youth decided to help out.
The youth groups will throw a “Benefit Carnival for Haiti” at noon Sunday. The junior high and high school youth groups initially became involved when the Lotz family, members of FUMC who are ministering in Haiti, lost their home and needed financial help.
Hearing about the tragedy on the news and then personally knowing someone involved really hit close to home for the teens, said youth member and Joplin High School student Nathan Fisher.
“It’s going to be awesome, and it’s going to a good cause,” Fisher said.
The youth members then decided to take action and raise money for not only the Lotz family, but also Operation Blessing, an organization that works with orphanages in Haiti and rebuilds cities after disaster has struck.
Erin Phipps, a part-time youth minister at the church, said that the youth members collaboratively decided on hosting a carnival to raise money for Haiti.
Phipps is the carnival coordinator and full-time youth minister Barry Sanborn will oversee it. But the students are in charge of fundraising, creating and running all of the booths.
Phipps said the students deserved full credit for the idea of hosting a carnival and coming up with the money needed to fund it.
Currently between 20 and 30 teens are actively participating in the carnival — mostly youth group students and their friends, she said. There will be 15 to 20 carnival booths such as a cake walk, a soda pop ring toss, silent auction, box maze, face painting, a magic show, grab bags, a basketball game and a craft booth.
Fisher, along with Joplin High’s Sam Croy and Ryan Grant and College Heights’ Evan Belk, are running the box maze booth. The box maze will transform one of the Sunday school classrooms into exactly what it sounds like — participants will crawl through big boxes to find their way to the end of the maze.
Fisher said they are very excited about their booth idea and expect it to be a big hit at the carnival.
Phipps says that it’s really good to see the kids doing all of the work and raising and donating their own money for their booths.
“People have the idea that kids don’t care. I think that’s entirely untrue,” Phipps said. “It’s the youth and young people who feel like they need to be helping the community and people around them.”
Phipps encourages anyone who’s interested to come and support their cause and have a great time.
“When your home has been destroyed, or your city has been destroyed, any little bit helps,” says Phipps.
Sarah Sticklen is a senior at Joplin High School.
Want to go?
The carnival will be held at the First United Methodist Family Life Center at 501 West Fourth Street in Joplin. Tickets at the door are 25 cents per booth, or $10 for a bracelet to play games at all the booths. Donations are also gladly accepted.
