Picking up trash, cleaning offices and planting gardens for local charities isn’t how most young people dream of spending their weekend.

But it recently proved to be an eye opening and rewarding experience for 40 students, ages 11 to 17, from Cornerstone Bible Fellowship’s youth programmes.

The young people spent all last weekend taking part in service activities throughout the Island, as part of Winter Weekend #iserveu.

They started off the project last Saturday morning, by gathering 63 bags of trash for Keep Bermuda Beautiful (KBB) in the Barker’s Hill and Vesey Street area. They were then divided up into smaller groups for a variety of afternoon service projects, such as organising the office space at nursing home Lefroy House, cleaning the kitchen at Meals on Wheels and planting flowers and redoing the garden at Teen Services.

Jehkio Bean, 12, was a member of a group tasked with cleaning up the office space at the Centre Against Abuse.

He said: “It felt good because we worked so well as a team that we got it done easily and in an organised way and we still had fun.

“It was also good because [the staff] were really appreciative. I wasn’t doing it just for their recognition, because I was doing it for God, but it still made me feel nice that they appreciated what all of us were doing.”

The Mount Saint Agnes student said he learned a lot about himself after taking part in the Winter Weekend.

Knowing that he was serving with all his heart and without complaining — the way God would want him to — really boosted his confidence, he said.

According to Youth Pastor Joshua Samuels, the event was looking to combat the sense of materialism and entitlement that some young people, and even adults, can feel.

“It was a way to give students an opportunity not only to hear about serving but to actually do it and put it into practice,” he said.

“I was really, really impressed with the attitude of our middle and high school students and how they served without complaining and had fun and worked really hard.

“And while I knew some of the service projects were different for students because it involved stuff they weren’t used to doing, they still did it with a good heart.

“At each service project, they all got to hear the purpose of the organisation they were serving with and therefore connect the serving to helping others and it gave them a bigger and greater sense of purpose and accomplishment.”

Pastor Josh said he hoped the weekend would spark in them a passion for lifelong serving. He also wanted it to help young people understand that God can use them — and has a purpose and a plan for their lives, which can be recognised when they serve other people.

“I really think based on what students have shared as a result of the week that their eyes and hearts have been opened to some of the needs that exist in the community,” he said.

But Pastor Josh admitted that he didn’t want the service activities to stop just because Winter Weekend was over.

“One of the things we were able to encourage students and parents with is they don’t let this event be the end of a great service project, but the beginning of a lifestyle of serving others,” he said.

“So I am looking forward to seeing families working together with different organisations in our community on a regular basis.”

He said the weekend proved to young people that it only takes a small step to make a big difference in people’s lives.

Cornerstone Bible Fellowship offers children and youth programmes for those in Primary 2 and up.

Uplink, the middle school ministry, takes place on Friday evenings from 7pm until 9.30pm at CedarBridge Academy; The Source high school ministry kicks off at the same time at Cornerstone, located on 82 Church Street, Hamilton.