Volunteering is a bold choice in the 21st century. Most of the charities that are active take donations through websites that can be quite unreliable at times. Few are able or willing to take the time to help reconstruct, renovate, or give back to the community.

A recent partnership between the city of Albany, Group Mission Trips, and The First Presbyterian Church has led to the development of a series of youth work camps to help rebuild various parts of the Capital Region as well as other parts of New York.

The idea of a volunteer work camp came from the Thompson River Flood in Loveland, Co in 1976. Since then, the Group Mission Trips organization has helped relieve those affected by natural disasters. Previous work can be seen in New Orleans and Staten Island. The total amount of hours logged exceeds six million. The total number of volunteers is estimated to be 300,000.

To help aid in developing new projects, Mayor Kathy Sheehan is in the works of developing a contract between the Group Mission Trip organization, the city of Albany, Home Depot, and Sherwin Williams. The desired contract would help provide lumber and paint to the volunteers at no cost.

Projects inside New York State can vary in location. Many of the popular areas include Albany, Guilderland, Buffalo, and Rochester. Volunteers of the Capital Region would reside in Meyer’s Middle School. There they would inflate air mattresses and receive meals. Scheduled work is generally four and a half days with the exception of the group’s break day. A thanks for the donations and dedication of the volunteers is usually a trip to an amusement park that takes place during their break period.

The current project, in the Capital Region, is the Schuyler Inn. The former inn will be converted into a job training facility for trade based professions and culinary arts. Help is always wanted and more information can be found at groupmissiontrips.com