Kids rock on for annual benefit
MILFORD — Local church youth group members rocked the day — and night — away Saturday, maintaining a fundraising tradition that extends more than four decades.
Ten members of the First United Church of Christ's Junior Pilgrim Fellowship group participated in the annual Rock-a-Thon, in which these middle school aged children spend 24 hours in rocking chairs to raise money for nonprofits, and had a good time doing it.
“I’ve participated for the past two years, and it’s been fun,” said middle schooler Joey Kaminski, “so, I wanted to do it again.”
Junior Pilgrim Fellowship is a service-based fellowship group who meet regularly and consists of middle school aged youth from Milford and surrounding towns, not all of which attend the First United Church of Christ.
“When I was in sixth grade, I successfully rocked in a chair for 24 hours by making sure I always have something to do — like playing a game, enjoying a presentation, doing a craft,” Kaminski said. “To prepare, I’ll be packing all the things I need to stay occupied during the time that we’re rocking. This year, I’ll be knitting and making bracelets with embroidery floss.”
Kelsey DeCarlo, the church’s Minister of Faith Formation, said this rocking chair event has been a tradition for 45 years.
“It’s truly a hallmark of the program and of this church,” DeCarlo said.
DeCarlo said church staff and volunteers transformed the building’s large Fellowship Hall, taping carpet to the floor so the chairs will not slip, bringing in the rocking chairs and some tables for the children to use while rocking the time away. The rocking began at 11 a.m. Saturday, ending Sunday.
“This does involve staying up for 24 hours, and it is a fundraising effort,” DeCarlo said.
This year, the Rock-aThon was fundraising for The Trevor Project and Silver Lake Camp and Retreat
Center. Over the years, the Rock-a-Thon has raised between $2,500 and $3,000 annually for various charities and organizations.
Rev. Adam E. Eckhart, the church’s senior pastor, said the Rock-a-Thon has been a fixture of the church’s middle school youth group, going back to the 1970s.
“It has changed in many ways over the years according to the times and the ways that youth function,” Eckhart said. “The coordinators have had to, for instance, deal with the increasing tendency of youth to retreat into themselves, with individual screens, by encouraging interaction. But at the same time, screens also helped us have a virtual rock-athon last year.”
Eckhart said that after several years of the youth eating lots of potato chips and downing increasingly pervasive caffeine drinks through the night, “we shifted the emphasis more toward food moderation.
“Over the last several years, presenters have come in to teach and encourage creativity and teamwork among the youth,” Eckhart added.
DeCarlo said this year there were speakers on budgeting and software development. The rest of the time, she said the kids enjoyed snacks and water while doing crafts and playing board games.
“They just have fun in the moment … it is such a great event,” DeCarlo added.
The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for
LGBTQ young people. The organization focuses on crisis services, education, advocacy and research.
Silver Lake is a summer camp in Sharon used annually by First United Church of Christ’s youth. The site offers camps throughout the summer and opportunities to hold retreats for churches and other organizations.
“It feels good, and it makes me happy to help others,” said Kaminski.
“Throughout the rock-athon’s history, raising funds has been a constant,” Eckhart said. “This year I’m proud that JPF chose to support the Trevor Project to resource LGBTQ+ people in crisis.
“Our church is now open and affirming, and our open and affirming covenant includes the commitment to welcome and affirm people of a diversity of identities, including of any gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation,” he added. “We also commit to work against prejudice and discrimination. So, by supporting the Trevor Project, the youth are doing crucial ministry to further our Christian commitments to honor the full humanity of all of God’s children and creation.”