The Ferrysburg Community Christian Reformed Church and parking lot were transported back to the 1950s this summer as the youth group put on their annual Car Hop fundraiser.
Church and community members drove up to be greeted by “car hops” in poodle skirts and in-line skates, who were ready to take their order.
This is the fifth year the teens have put on the event, originally started by youth director Paula De Jonge to raise money to paint and improve the youth room.
From left, Mitchell Landheer, Michaela De Jonge and Amanda Absher fill orders in the kitchen.
The Car Hop is run almost entirely by the students, with high schoolers manning the kitchen—cooking and putting together hot dogs, chili dogs, chips, and root-beer floats— while middle school students run the “dining room” and parking lot.
“The students come together and work to accomplish a goal—serving the church community and each other,” said De Jonge.
Today the $800-$1,000 raised goes toward the youth groups’ mission trips. This summer, nine teens and three adults traveled to New Oxford, Pa., to repair homes in the area. Other mission trips in the past have included disaster relief in New Orleans with the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, a Life Trip of backpacking in Wyoming, and working with a local agency to help build a home.
“The older students are in mentoring positions with the middle school students. I love to watch them interact with each other and see the excitement as they grow and move into positions of more responsibility,” De Jonge said.