From left: Julie Snyder, Emma Noyes, Elisabeth Perkins, Kiley Nygren, Zach Clements, Alex Cadman, Brett Keating, Peggy Zimmer, James Authier, Josh Zimmer, TJ Noyes, Matt Zimmer. (Courtesy photo)

Fifteen Harvard residents joined a group of volunteers from churches around Massachusetts on July 11 for a week-long trip to Down East Maine to help combat the poor living conditions in that region.

A total of 44 people from Harvard, Hudson, and Scituate went on the trip, which was organized through an organization called Down East Maine Missions. The organization’s aim is to rebuild and repair homes in the Washington County area of Maine, the poorest county in New England.

Four group leaders led 11 Bromfield students in the Harvard delegation, which was organized by Julie Snyder and sponsored by the Harvard Congregational Church Missions Committee. Bromfield students in the group included recent graduates Josh Wright and Zach Clements; seniors Brett Keating, Matt Zimmer, and Josh Zimmer; sophomores Emma Noyes, Susannah Wright, James Authier, and Kiley Nygren; freshman Alex Cadman; and eighth-grader TJ Noyes.

This is the fourth year Harvardites have participated in the mission trip. During the first three years, Harvard volunteers completed a ramp for a family with two members in wheelchairs, four different roofs, three new decks, two new front doors, two new bulkheads, and countless painting and scraping jobs.

Peggy Zimmer, a group leader who was new to the trip, grew up spending summers near the Down East Maine Missions campsite in East Machias, Maine. She says she “jumped at the chance to go back, give back, and find out more about the area and people who live there.” Zimmer was on a worksite with another Harvard leader, Tim Wright, and four youths. On this site, the volunteers helped build a bulkhead, replace the front door of the house, and replace fixtures inside the house. However, the Bromfield geometry teacher said, “What we did was so much more than some simple act of donation. My site-mates and I got to know the couple that we were helping. We saw how their door did not keep the snow from drifting in and how the bulkhead was falling apart and we talked to them about what this meant to them in the winter.”

Many experienced an awakening of sorts on the trip. Matt Zimmer was among those people. “I realized that I am privileged to live in such a nice town with such nice people,” he said, “and I try not to take these things for granted anymore.”

Emma Noyes, who scraped and painted on her worksite on this, her second, tour with the trip, also learned from her experiences. “It is amazing that people who live in such difficult situations can be so strong,” she said. “[The people we worked for] touch us with every different story they tell. They inspire us to be better people the whole way, and they teach us what is really important in life.”

Washington County’s economy formerly relied on the sardine industry, which disappeared in the 1980s after canning factories discovered cheaper labor in the South. The economy has been on a downward slope since then, and the infrastructure has also suffered.

Group leader Elisabeth Perkins, a first-timer on the trip this year, said that she was excited about participating in the trip, but that she had to go into the program with “an open mind and heart and the willingness to devote a week’s vacation to work real hard.” She also added that she realized that her co-workers “could not believe that I would donate a vacation week to community service.” Like Noyes and Zimmer, Perkins saw a different lifestyle on this trip. “I feel humbled by this adventure,” she said, “and am grateful for all that I have. It’s directed me to want less and give more.”

Perkins does not get to work with teens as much as two of the other Harvard leaders, Snyder and Peggy Zimmer, who are both high school teachers. Therefore, she said, “By far, my most favorite experience is working with the young people and being an active listener, listening to their music, conversations, stories about varied experiences, and really getting to know them on their level… I learned to listen more and talk less, and it’s amazing what one can learn about another individual. I really got to know many wonderful teens as people and experience their talents and leadership skills firsthand.”

Zimmer, too, realized something new about teens. “I think I can fairly say that I have a better appreciation for some of the students in my past,” she says. “And, I think… for some of the students in my future. The kids that I worked with at this camp were giving, unassuming, unpretentious, helpful, loving, and so well-meaning. No one was there because they were told to be there. All of them, from what I could tell, were there because they felt a need to help.” Zimmer said she thinks that she is “hooked” on the trip, a sentiment shared by Perkins.

Noyes said that the personal satisfaction of finishing a job is not what matters. “I think the whole point isn’t about finishing a site but about making the homeowners feel better about their house and themselves. It’s a good feeling to make their day.”

Matt Zimmer agrees. “My biggest accomplishment on this trip was helping someone breathe easier,” he said. “The people in Harvard sometimes don’t realize how good a life we have and as a result take many things for granted.”

Down East Maine Missions is in search of clothing donations for impoverished migrant workers in the area, and monetary donations are welcome as well. For more information about donations or next summer’s mission trip, contact harvardmissions@gmail.com.