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Monday January 11, 2016

Service in Reverse

By Brian Gaerke

"What is UDSAP?" is one of the hardest questions I have ever had to answer. Only those who have spent the summer in Salyersville really know, and even then no one answer will be the same. At its most basic level, we run a day camp, teen center, and volunteer at the nursing home. Through those programs relationships are built to the point of the summer ending in tears. Investing an entire summer to live and understand the struggle of poverty only scratches the surface. To the people, the Dayton group is a friendly face to trust and confide. In the beginning you think you are helping them by providing an outlet, but in reality it is them who are helping you grow. Grow in ways that only you will understand. I got way more out of my summer than any of the people got out of me. For 50 years Salyersville has served the Dayton group in ways that are simply unexplainable.

Brian Gaerke

UDSAP 2012

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