QUITMAN — A group of AmeriCorps workers paid an extended visit to Clarkco State Park, completing several labor intensive projects and volunteering their time and energy to help keep the park in shape.

Americorps is a federal program which provides opportunities for young adults to engage in public service with the expressed goal of “helping others and meeting critical needs in the community.”

The crew was made of seven young people: Eduardo Castillo, 19; James Burton, 19; Randall Bonner, 19; Hannah Bledsoe, 22; Julia Cadieux, 19; group leader Monja Johnson, 25; and Free Blasingame, 23.

Americorps sends groups such as this one around the country to help communities and assist in service projects. The members don’t necessarily get to pick where they go, but they can state preferences.

“(Clarko) was our number one choice,” Johnson said. “It’s just been amazing. They’ve treated us wonderfully.”

While lodging in the park cabins, the group helped build several bridges around the park, as well as chopped wood and cleaned trails and other park areas. Their service also extended beyond the park into the community, where they painted animal shelters, cleaned school trails and painted roadways.

“We wouldn’t have been able to put these projects together without them,” said Tony Fleming, the park manager. “This has always been on my mind and it finally came together.”

Though their work can be hard, and sometimes the group has to sleep on cots instead of soft warm beds, each team member expressed what intrigued them about the AmeriCorp program.

“I joined AmeriCorp because I wanted to gain experience in different things to see what I want to do for college, and it also helps me travel and see different parts of the country I’ve never seen before,” Cadieux said. “If you complete the program, you get an education award of up to $6,000.”

“I graduated from college in 2018 and I knew I wanted to help people but I didn’t know how, and AmeriCorp seemed like a really great way to serve different communities in the states and also get to spend time outside working with my hands and learn some skills I would have never had a chance to develop otherwise,” Bledsoe said.

“I was working in architecture for a while — which is more of a desk job — and I wanted to work more with my hands and kind of hone in on some skills I previously had and learn some new ones,” Blasingame said.

“When I heard about AmeriCorps it was great news because I wanted to travel and help out communities that need it the most,” Castillo said.

The group stayed at Clarkco for about two weeks, before leaving this week to help clean up debris left by Hurricane Michael in Florida.