2017 JUMP mission group will head to Portland, Oregon in late July
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Steve Edwards
There was a good turnout for the recent Ultimate Salad and Dessert Bar, a fundraiser to support JUMP's upcoming mission trip to Portland, Oregon. This will be the eighth trip the group has made since the Christian-based program for youth was formed several years ago in Chinook. Organizers of the salad/dessert event said 130+ locals attended.
JUMP is a Christian-based service organization for teens in the Chinook area. Since its inception, about a decade ago, the group meets regularly for Bible study and does various service projects in the community-from helping at the Food Pantry to canvassing for the annual Community Chest.
It's also been a tradition, starting eight years ago, to do a summer mission trip. Janelle Downs, who is now an adult leader with the group, was in the first group of teens to make a mission trip with JUMP. She listed the various trip destinations: Seattle, Arkansas, Canada, Colorado, Seattle again, Savannah (Georgia) and last year what was described as a "northwest tour" which included projects in various parts of Idaho and Montana. This year the group will head to the Rose City, Portland, Oregon, for their annual mission trip.
Downs said, "At this point we have 22 participants signed up for the mission. That's the largest group to date." On a typical mission trip the JUMP students and adult leaders conduct Vacation Bible Schools, help in community centers doing food or clothing distribution, work at homeless shelters and do other community projects. Most students return with a much better understanding of the larger world around them and an improved appreciation for their own community. Downs added, "We are still finalizing some of the service projects but the trip is shaping up nicely."
Local churches help fund the mission trips but students, parents and JUMP leaders raise most of the funds, through community events, to financially support the trip and the mission projects. This past Sunday they held one of their major fundraisers, the annual springtime Ultimate Salad and Dessert Bar. Held in Wallner Hall after morning worship services in Chinook, locals look forward to the event with its wide array of salads and desserts. Chrissy Downs, also an adult leader with Jump, said she counted 132 attendees and described that as "about an average turnout. We get great support for the event."
JUMP will continue its active participation in local projects and will hold additional fundraisers for the upcoming mission trip to Portland. Downs said the group would leave on July 29 and return August 6.
