Adamstown teen embraces leadership roles

Our Neighbor: Jordan Anderson

Thursday, March 9, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Tom Fedor⁄The Gazette Jordan Anderson, 15, of Adamstown sings to residents of Tranquility of Fredericktowne assisted living community in Frederick on a recent Saturday afternoon, with other peers from the New Life Foursquare Church youth group.

Anderson, who lives in Adamstown, agreed to subsist on only juice and water from a recent Friday afternoon to the following Saturday evening. His youth group at New Life Foursquare Church, in Jefferson, designed the fast to raise awareness about hunger and poverty.

While hungry, Anderson and roughly 35 other youth group members baked several batches of cookies for nearby nursing home residents, and delivered the sweets themselves.

‘‘The kids feel what it’s like not to eat for 30 hours,” Anderson’s father, Kelvin, said. ‘‘It’s a big wake-up call for a lot of kids.”

The fast doubled as a fund-raiser for a national nonprofit organization called World Vision International, which responds to poverty crises. The youth group holds the fast annually and regularly raises between $2,000 and $3,000 for World Vision hunger relief efforts.

A family leader

As the oldest of three children, Jordan sets an example for his brothers, Cameron, 13, and Micha, 9, his father said. His mother is Susan Anderson.

‘‘He’s been very energized his whole life,” his father said. ‘‘He’s a leader. People follow him.”

A lifelong Frederick County resident, Jordan remembers younger years when he regularly visited his grandmother in Adamstown, playing casual games of football and lacrosse with other neighborhood youths.

Now the athlete’s after-school hours are spent in a weight room, readying to play on Tuscarora High’s lacrosse team in spring and varsity football in fall, at a Boy Scout meeting or with his youth group.

‘‘He’s a pretty active kid,” Kelvin Anderson said. ‘‘He’s got more energy than most. He’s got a bigger mouth than most. ...We love him.”

Beyond the borders

In the summers of 2004 and 2005, Jordan, along with about 40 other parishioners from 10 regional churches, journeyed to Costa Rica to volunteer in impoverished communities.

Hoisting thousands of cinderblocks from trucks to be used to construct a new church, Jordan saw the building as only a foundation on his first trip. The next year, the teen rode past the site where the church had blossomed into a nearly completed building. As he saw the church with walls and a roof, his face ‘‘lit up.”

‘‘It was really emotional,” Jordan said of the trips. ‘‘You see what you have and what others don’t have. You really appreciate things.”

As part of the youth ministry team, Jordan coordinated and led high-spirited activities such as plays and skits for local children, sometimes speaking to more than 600 local youths.

Anderson said he found his niche in promoting ministry in Costa Rica by matching the energy of younger children. Dozens of children responded to his activities by tugging on him, roughhousing with him and engaging him in their culture, Anderson said.

‘‘I’d lead them in their little worship time and get them dancing,” he said. ‘‘You dance, and they think it’s funny, and then everyone starts dancing.”

While ministering, Anderson one day wore several benefit bracelets that are sold for fund-raisers to support local causes. When the students eyed the colorful rubber bands as toys, Anderson promptly gave them to the kids.

Anderson said he was touched that the cheap, simple bracelets excited the children. He and his youth ministry peers eventually distributed hundreds of little toys to Costa Rican children.

The New Life Foursquare Church mission committee is now planning next year’s volunteer mission, possibly to Gulf region communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. Anderson said he hopes his summer schedule will permit him to go.

Early Eagle Scout rank

Boy Scouts are required to earn 21 merit badges that mark a participation in community service and learning to achieve Eagle Scout rank. Anderson has 42 merit badges.

The majority of Eagle Scouts achieve their rank in their later teens, but Anderson secured the requirements by age 14.

Bob Nimorwicz, Jordan’s scoutmaster, said Jordan is a leader among his peers.

‘‘Jordan’s an outstanding kid,” Nimorwicz said. ‘‘He’s well liked by everyone, both scouts and adult leaders.

Among his most recent merit badges is a Farm Mechanics badge Jordan earned last week after learning about farm operations with his brother, Cameron.

For his final Scout project, Anderson installed walkways, platforms and park benches at a pond at New Life Foursquare Church to beautify the surroundings. He completed the project last summer with several of his peers and church members and earned the Eagle Scout rank in October 2005. He was honored at a Jan. 21 ceremony.

Nimorwicz, in his ninth year as a Boy Scout leader, said Jordan’s project, which demanded upwards of 250 man hours, was the most difficult he has seen.

‘‘Jordan’s the type of kid who will be anything he sets his mind to,” Nimorwicz said. ‘‘ ... He has great potential leadership skills.”

Jordan also serves as a den chief for Cub Scout pack 285, which funnels into his own troop; his younger brother is a member.

‘‘I like them rowdy,” Jordan said of the younger scouts. ‘‘They act just like me.”

Last weekend, Jordan was voted into the Senior Patrol Leader position in his pack, which puts him, as he said, ‘‘in charge of the boys.”

Jordan recalls a wealth of memories from his eight years with the Boy Scouts of America — weekly meetings, monthly camping trips and a bevy of community outreach activities.

Anderson has slept in a submarine. He has camped on a battleship. He has whitewater rafted. He has survived a weekend in the mountains with few supplies. He has biked almost the entire 185-mile C&O Canal route. And, of course, he has broken a 30-hour fast with a spaghetti dinner.

‘‘He’s done everything a parent would want,” Kelvin Anderson said. ‘‘Now, it’s his chance to turn around and give back.”

Nominate a‘Neighbor’

Every month, The Gazette writes a story about someone who has helped enrich our local communities. We call these people ‘‘Our Neighbors” and bring them to you on the front page of the paper.

So far, we've given you stories about a volunteer girls soccer coach, a teenage girl who helps raise service dogs and a World War II survivor who now helps the homeless and hungry in Frederick County, among others.

Those who we write about in “Our Neighbors“ stories are the essence of what makes a community home — people who volunteer their time selflessly to improve the community.

Do you know someone who should be featured in an ‘‘Our Neighbors” story in The Gazette?

If so, we encourage you to nominate that person by contacting us. Simply e-mail your nomination to frederick@gazette.net or call 301-846-2126.

And be sure to read The Gazette to find out what good deeds your neighbors are doing.