—Uncaster Farming, Saturday, October 22,1977
112
Eric Rogers, is one of the newer arrivals at Teen Challenge Farm, coming to
the rehabilitation center from Chicago. Like most others who live and work at
the Berks County facility, he finds his responsibilities fulfilling.
People are main
(Continued from Page 105)
person for that task, but I
love it.” Hameloth stated
with sincerity. “There is
always a new challenge.”
To run a farm used for
educational purposes
requires exceptionally good
management to be profitable
but Gordon Hameloth seems
to have accomplished this.
He has all of the dairy herd
replacements raised on the
farm. The bull calves are
sold except for two or three
which come from ex
ceptionally good cows. These
are raised and sold at a later
date.
The heifers are all pasture
bred by one of the young
bulls. From then on all of the
cows are bred A.I.
The young bulls are not
kept for more than one
season for safety reasons.
“There are too many people
around the farm to keep
mature bulls on the farm,”
the supervisor explained.
The major field crops are
com and alfalfa. The con
centrates for the dairy feed
are bought. The dairy herd is
housed in a free stall bam
and divided into high and low
producers so they can be
managed separately.
The calves are given fresh
milk for the first week, then
switched to fermented milk.
They are always kept in
sanitary conditions, and,
says Hame|pth, they have
very few loa^g.
Hameloth plans to start
raising hogs on the farm as
well A farrowing house is
planned for the near future.
The pigs will not be finished
out but sold as feeders in
stead
Hameloth is also trying to
Teen Challenge to teach his
students more about
agriculture than they can
learn from just working on
the farm. “I am trying to get
outside help to come and
speak on agriculture to the
students,” he said. The farm
supervisor also expressed
the desire to take his
students on more field trips
as well. The field trips give
the students more meaning
and expose them to many
new ideas they can’t leam
from one operation.
There is no racial barrier
at Teen Challenge. Everyone
lives together in a Christian
atmosphere, housed in
rooms very similar to a
college dormitory. It is this
“Jesus Factor” which has
been attributed to the suc
cess of Teen Challenge.
There are men on parole at
the center who have served
time in prisons. Some have
SERVICE IS OUR BUSINESS
READY MIX CONCRETE FOR EVERY PURPOSE
1
J
A DIVISION OF A. G. KURTZ A SONS INC.
•Crushed Stone •Ready Mixed Concrete •Asphalt Paving
• QUALITY CONTROLLED CONCRETE • RADIO EQUIPPED FLEET
• MIX UNIFORMITY THRU AUTOMATION • SATURDAY MORNING DEUVERY
Prompt Courteous Service
DENVER FD#3 ... PHONE 267-7591
no more than a fourth grade
education when they arrive,
and none of them have any
belongings except the
clothes they are wearing.
Teen Challenge has to
provide for these needs
through donations and funds
that they can raise.
Once the men graduate
after their eight month stay
they are usually sent back to
the induction centers for a
short time. Many of them
want to go back “home” to
help their friends. A study
done on Teen Challenge last
summer has shown that
approximately 13 per cent of
the former addicts that
graduate have gone into the
ministry, 76 per cent never
went back to drugs or
alcohol, and 86 per cent are
living “straight”.
Graduation is the last
Friday of every month, and
the public is always
welcome.'