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World Changers In East Ridge

138 views · Published 11 July 2012 · 2:11 · Indexed 31 October 2026

Channel: WTVC NewsChannel 9 · 2012 · News & Politics

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by Karen Zatkulak Nearly four hundred teenagers are in Chattanooga this week, braving both sweltering heat and severe storms to provide free labor for those you need it most.They are volunteering through a group called World Changers.  The teens come from all across the country.  They're from different churches, and different backgrounds, all in Chattanooga for the same reason.They're fixing a rook that Betty Johnson could have never fixed herself.  She's 72-years-old, on a fixed income, just lost her husband, and was in the hospital with another relative on Tuesday.  But her son tells us she's ecstatic over the free labor she's now receiving.  Bruce Johnson tells us, "She was real excited she called me at home, and said get down here, so I went down and she told me and I said what's the catch, and she said no catch!"There's no catch since the workers, are teens, and their labor is free.  The supplies are also donated by East Ridge Revitalization and the city.  Johnson says, "They seen my mother's and picked it, and i'm real glad they picked her."Her house is one of ten on the list to be fixed this week.  She's getting a new roof and a clean up both inside and out.A few doors down on the same street, 16-year-old Brandon Brantley came in from Kentucky for his first time as a world changer.  He's sacrificing his summer break, for anything but a vacation.  He tells us, "I didn't think nothing of, I saw a chance to come out here and spread the Lord's word."When the winds and rain started to blow in Tuesday afternoon, the crews seems disappointed to stop early.  They say they're ready to work on the job they came to do.  Brantley says, "To come out here and see how people are struggling so bad, it makes me want to do everything I can to help them, and give them the best situation possible."It's help for families who will be forever grateful.  Johnson says his mother will be overjoyed when she she's her house fixed up.  "Happy, real happy."Last year, the World Changers helped repair 12 homes.  Each student who participates pays about 250 dollars for the week.

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