The Young Men’s Christian Association is taking this week to examine the “C” in the YMCA.

A group of more than 30 local teenagers worked to earn a trip to the YMCA Christian Values Conference at the YMCA Blue Ridge Assembly Center outside of Black Mountain, N.C.

Phillip Doiron, executive director of the Vicksburg YMCA, called the conference the single most life changing experience he has had in his 22 years working with the YMCA. One of his personal goals when he returned to Vicksburg in October 2015 was to get a group from here to attend.

“What I love about this is that it so blatantly puts the mission of the YMCA front and center in these young people’s lives, and that mission is to help them in spirit, mind and body,” he said.

More than 500 teens from the eastern United States will convene for the weeklong conference. Students will have daily devotionals, go on a hike in the mountains, sing songs and have dress-up theme nights.

“It’s a lot of soul searching, a lot of self-improvement for the teenagers, but its also a lot of fun,” he said.

Students are divided into 14 to 16 member families of new people that are not from their hometown. Doiron said the conference brings together inner city, rural, rich and poor teenagers.

“One of the neatest things is they find how much, regardless of background, race, whatever, how much they do have in common,” he said. “They unite under that Christian symbol.”

Locally, students were asked to complete 40 hours of volunteer service at the YMCA and to pay a $100 deposit to attend.

Donations and fundraisers, like the annual Run Thru History, covered all other expenses for the trip.

Doiron said the students volunteered in a number different position at the Y including swim instructors, nursery attendants, youth sports coaches, day camp counselors, front desk attendants, resident camp counselors and maintenance workers.

“The reason we do the volunteering is they get that sense of service above self, no one else is more important than them, and it serves to drive home a lot of points they’ll relearn in North Carolina,” he said, adding earning it makes the teenagers appreciate the experience even more.

Sarah Prescott, a freshman at Warren Central High School, said she helped with lunches at a summer camp, distributed water and helped with a raffle at a golf tournament and worked the front office of the Y.

“I helped with anything that they needed,” Prescott said.

She became aware of the conference through friends from her soccer team, and she wanted to sign up because of all the wonderful things she heard about the experience.

“I’m just looking forward to meeting new people,” she said.

This year Doiron’s daughter Anna Kate, a senior at St. Aloysius, is helping to lead the conference as a member of the Christian Life Committee. One of her main jobs as a leader was to spread the word to local teenagers, and she exceeded expectations.

“Where we use to live we only had eight people go, and then this year we moved and I was determined to get more people. My dad didn’t think we could get more than 15, but we got 33,” she said.

She is the only local student who has been to the conference before, and she is ready to get back to the mountain.

“It’s something that’s really special to me, and I look forward to it all year,” she said. “I make great friends from it and we have the best time. It’s a really special thing. I can’t explain it.”