Josh Dufresne is a talented photographer. His images of people – especially kids – capture their humanity.

You wonder why this 30-year-old Naugatuck native isn’t putting his trusty Canon Rebel to use as a professional. He could be earning a respectable living shooting weddings, portraits, sports events or whatever other subjects he chooses to tackle.

There’s a reason. Josh Dufresne is a giver. Everything in his life seems to be directed toward making life better for somebody else. Whether it’s driving “Miss Daisy,” an elderly neighbor to the grocery store or the drug store, assisting two developmentally disabled men at their home in Winsted, or traveling to Mexico and South Dakota on mission trips with Simply Smiles, Josh is dedicating his life to brightening the lives of others.

Why has he chosen this life of selflessness? Why is he taking altruism to a new level?

“People ask me that all the time,” he responds. “I guess I just like to help when I can. I just like being kind.”

His mother, Peggy Dufresne, offers a more detailed explanation. “He’s such an amazing young man and he seems to gravitate toward people who need help. He defines the need and matches it,” she says. “He’s a very gentle soul. He loves people, he loves animals.”

Indeed, Josh attended Nonnewaug High School (Class of ’99) in Woodbury because its curriculum offered subjects that could lead to a career as a veterinarian. But he encountered a problem along the way.

“I have a severe allergy to cats,” he says, “so that put an end to my becoming a vet tech.”

One can surmise that Peggy and Rick Dufresne are positive examples to all four of their children through their many activities at Naugatuck Congregational Church and at home.

Peggy points out that all of their offspring are engaged in professions that serve the public. The oldest, Jeffrey, is a firefighter in West Hartford, although “he got his start with the Naugatuck ambulance service.” Daughter Jenna teaches sixth grade at Hillside Middle School, and their youngest, Jillian, is a teacher at Rumsey Hall, a junior boarding school located in Washington Depot, Conn. “Jillian has co-led (service) trips to Mexico with Josh,” Peggy noted.

And then there’s Josh. He puts in his 40 hours a week in Winsted, where, as a residential instructor, he tends to the daily needs of two disabled men who live in a rented house. It’s a program funded by the state.

In his limited free time, Josh may found volunteering for Simply Smiles (www.SimplySmiles.org), a Fairfield County-based nonprofit that provides food and builds homes for the impoverished in Mexico’s poorest state, Oaxaca, and at the Cheyenne River Sioux reservation in South Dakota.

Oaxaca (pronounced Wah-ha-ka), located in the southern portion of the country and bordering the Pacific Ocean, is roughly the size of New England. Its stunning beauty – from mountains and valleys to cloud forests and pristine beaches – is marred by the abject poverty in which most of its inhabitants exist.

In the capital city of Oaxaca, there is an orphanage, Casa Hogar Benito Juarez Children’s Home, where it is said, “Many of the children who live there are economic orphans. Their families are unable to care for them.”

In early July, Josh made another weeklong service trip to Oaxaca, this time as an adult advisor for the First Church Congregational of Fairfield’s Senior High Youth Group. The church’s associate pastor, the Rev. Jennifer Habetz, has become an admirer of Joshua Dufresne, volunteer and photographer.

“We met in 2008 through our connection with Simply Smiles,” she says. “Josh is incredibly gifted as a photographer. He has an ability to connect with people. It’s directly related to who he is as a human being … gentleness, a deeply compassionate person.”

In Oaxaca, the group of 11 high school students, two college students and four advisors spent much of their time constructing walls for a watershed and building a bathroom for students in a school. They also played tag and soccer with youngsters and prepared a meal for villagers in Santa Maria Tepexipana.

Josh was in his early twenties and working as the registrar at the Silver Lake Summer Camp and Conference Center in upstate Sharon when he was asked to put his photographic skills to use for the first time. He shot photos of each group of campers.

When did he realize that he possessed talent as a photographer?

“When people there told me they liked my pictures,” he responds with a chuckle.

Thus encouraged, Josh purchased an expensive camera, which he proceeded to carry with him on one of his early service trips to Mexico. “Somebody was playing with it and the flash broke. It wouldn’t work again.”

So, he’s been making do with the more modest Canon Rebel. Making do? No, that’s understating the case.

See for yourself.

Joe Ruscito and Lucas Gubinski cool off at Penfield Beach on Wednesday after completing their two-month bike trek for a children’s charity. Photo: Mike Lauterborn / Fairfield Citizen contributed

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There were smiles all around as Fairfielders Lucas Gubinski and Joe Ruscito came bicycling up the boat ramp at Penfield Beach into the welcoming arms of friends and family, completing a 60-day, 4,168 mile cross-country journey from San Francisco.

The 23-year-old graduates of Fairfield Ludlowe High School and lifelong Fairfield residents set off Aug. 7 from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, briefly dipping the rear wheels of their Surly Long Haul Trucker bicycles in the Pacific Ocean.

About 1 p.m. Wednesday, they completed their journey, dipping their front wheels in Long Island Sound waters at Penfield Beach. The trek was not only a tremendous accomplishment for the young men but a way to raise funds for Simply Smiles, a Westport-based charity organization that works to provide bright futures for impoverished children. During the journey, nearly $3,000 in contributions were made to the cyclists through a link on a travel blog they maintained.

“This is overwhelming, and hard to imagine we’re home,” said a grinning Ruscito. As they approached familiar sights during the last stretch to Penfield Beach, their excitement built. “It started to hit home at Devil’s Den (in Weston), then coming down Redding Road, seeing friends’ houses, Mercato Deli. Things were a blur from there.”

Added Gubinski, “We went by my house on Lalley Boulevard. My mom and sister were already here at the beach and my dad had met us in Danbury to join us for the ride down.”

Ruscito’s younger brother Paul met the cyclists in Redding, too, to support his sibling’s efforts.

Among the group greeting the cyclists at Penfield Beach was Ruscito’s mother, Vicci. “I’m really excited and appreciate that they’re home safe,” she said. “I appreciate all the people they met, too — their generosity, putting them up at their homes, the resources they provided, warm meals, showers. This is a journey that will always stay with them. And it helped a great cause, which we’ve been a part of and experienced first hand in Mexico. We’re all helping give back to people that don’t have anything.”

Like any mom who wants the best for her children, Vicci added, “Now I’m concerned about them going forward. It was a fun situation, now they need a plan.”

There was no lack of family love on display at the finish line, and though the cyclists had met with a few relatives several times on the road, it didn’t compare to seeing them back home.

“It’s different seeing them here,” said Ruscito.

Tony Ruscito was sure glad to see his son safe and sound. “I hadn’t seen Joe since mid-July,” he said. “I was happy to find out they were skirting Death Valley. When they hit a desert area in Utah, it was so hot the little water they had left became too hot to drink. Some people riding by brought them a whole bunch of ice water. Towns were very hospitable and even opened up their bike trails to them.”

Gubinski’s dad, Vic, said Lucas has long been an outdoors type. “As a family, we always did outdoor activities — hiking, camping,” he said. “I got both Lucas and Joe kitesurfing and now Joe’s a pro. Regarding cycling, Lucas has been doing it for a couple of years, but Joe had just started a couple of weeks before their trip.”

To that, Joe said, “When Lucas thought of the idea, I rented a bike, to see if it was a good time. Then I flew out west, got hooked up with Bay Area Bikes in Oakland and rode around for two weeks getting used to it.”

Lucas said the duo averaged 80 miles a day and, over the entire trip, took only three rest days. In all, they had 15 tire changes combined and Lucas’ bike chain broke once. They suffered no injuries, fortunately, or health issues, and conducted one or two interviews with media on the road. He said his favorite experience was riding into Telluride, Colo. “The town is at 10,000 feet,” he said. “It felt like being on top of the world.”

For Ruscito, Utah was most impressive. “Amazing canyons and pillars, unlike anything else I’ve seen. Added Gubinski, “It was cool being so far from everything.”

Reflecting on the experience, Gubinksi said, “It was totally amazing. It gives you a new outlook on everything.” Ruscito figured, “I might bike a little more. It’s a cool way to see places.”

To see a day-to-day report on the journey, visit the cyclists’ blog: http://usbiketrip.blogspot.com. To make a donation to Simply Smiles, visit: www.simplysmiles.org.

The Ruscito family: Paul, Vicci, Joe and Tony on Wednesday after Joe finished his cross-country ride for Simply Smiles charity. Photo: Mike Lauterborn / Fairfield Citizen contributed

The Gubinski family: Vic, Alison, Alexa and Lucas after completion of the two-month charity ride by Lucas on Wednesday at Penfield Beach. Photo: Mike Lauterborn / Fairfield Citizen contributed

Joe Ruscito and Lucas Gubinski celebrate their cross-continental bicycle ride for charity conclusion Wednesday at their hometown’s Penfield Beach. Photo: Mike Lauterborn / Fairfield Citizen contributed

Fairfielders Lucas Gubinski and Joe Ruscito celebrate the completion of their two-month cross-country bike ride to raise money for the Simply Smiles charity Wednesday by splashing into the water off Penfield Beach. Photo: Mike Lauterborn / Fairfield Citizen contributed

First Church Congregational in Fairfield played host Friday night to a trio of musicians who donated their time to help raise funds for the church’s Senior High Youth Group’s upcoming service trip to Mexico.

From July 2 to 9, the Beach Road church group will join Southport/Westport-based Simply Smiles in Oaxaca, Mexico, to feed and support needy citizens.

About 50 people attended Friday night’s benefit concert, enjoying coffee, baked goods and the folk/pop sounds of Fairfielder Brian Dolzani, Southporter Kristen Graves and Norwalk resident Glenn Roth.

“Every year we take a week-long service trip,” said Pastor Jennifer Habetz. “In the past, we’ve been to Biloxi, West Virginia and Denver, to name a few destinations. We’ll join Simply Smiles, which is dedicated to improving the lives of impoverished children. They work exclusively in two places – Oaxaca and on the Cheyenne/Sioux reservation in South Dakota.”

Habetz said church members are really excited about the trip. “It’s an opportunity for our kids to go out in to the world and live with and learn from people who live very different lives than we do in Fairfield,” she said. “This is one of many fundraisers we’ve conducted since October. The trip is really central to what we do as a church group and puts our faith in action.”

The junior leader of the Youth Group, Kate Maffei, said Friday evening’s concert was the last fundraising push for the trip. She added, “This is my third trip but first time leading. I’m excited to experience the whole leadership role and hope to use the skills that I’ve acquired through previous trips to make this one a successful one.”

Simply Smiles has a couple of operating sites in Oaxaca, according to Maffei. “They include an orphanage and an inner-jungle site, where we’ll do maintenance and food distribution,” she said. “Work camp is such an incredible experience for anyone to have under their belt. I’m a better person for it.”

Dolzani, the guitarist, was glad to lend his support. “It’s great that kids can go to other countries and help out in a humanitarian way,” he said. “Kristen and I have collaborated in the past. It’s a good way to be part of a global outreach.”

One of dozens attending the performance, Fairfielder Teresa Boyd, a parishioner, raved about Habetz and the service team. “Jen is so amazing with this youth group,” she said. “My two kids have gone on work camp trips in the past and they were rewarding experiences.”

Seated nearby, Peter Allen, vice president of Simply Smiles, explained more about his group’s mission and expressed his appreciation for its supporters. “We’re dedicated to the children and families we serve,” he said. “An event like this shows us that we have partners. We like to attend and support the fundraisers, as it means so much to us. We need to raise funds, but it’s even more important to foster a relationship with the people helping us do our work, and between those volunteers and the people we serve.”

Allen said he planned to go to Oaxaca, along with Graves. “It’s a cool thing that she’s playing the dual role of performer here tonight and service person,” he said. “Art and charity work well together.”

To boost the fundraising effort, Allen offered for sale samples of Simply Smiles Coffee. “The local Oaxaca farmers depended on coffee export and lost their trade due to globalization,” he said. “We’re trying to recreate a market for them. All of the profits go to help feed the starving farmers and their families there.”

For information about Simply Smiles, visit www.SimplySmiles.org

The Silver Lake group in Mexico

by Drew Page

OAXACA, MEXICO (05/23/2011) – Silver Lake Conference Centerand Simply Smiles Inc.teamed up for the fourth year to bring youth and adults from Connecticut to Oaxaca, Mexico, for a week of service and relationship building. The 2011 mission trip to Mexico took place over Holy Week. Nine high school youth and six adults from all over the state made the trip to work at the center of operations for Simply Smiles and the surrounding area.

For Tim Hughes, Co-Director of Silver Lake Conference Center, this was his second trip with Simply Smiles. He and the others began their work building a cistern that will eventually hold water for the planned dormitory at the center of operations, and tiling the new bathroom. After the workday was done the group spent some time playing with the children at the Casa Hogar Benito Juarez Children’s Home, Simply Smiles original project in Oaxaca City.

Pouring cement at the Simply Smiles Operations Center

Singing with children at Casa Hogar

On Tuesday, the group traveled to Santa Maria Tepexipana, a remote mountain village in the southern jungle of Mexico. Here the group worked on a new latrine for a school located at the top of the mountain. Lugging bags of concrete, tools, and jugs of drinking water was hard work, but the physical effort was not what struck Hughes as the important part of the trip.

“Though we worked really hard and we accomplished a lot, the most important thing was making friends and connecting with the young people and their families who live in such need,” he said.

One of these connections happened at the jungle village. Juan, who grew up at Casa Hogar, now works for Simply Smiles. Juan was born in the village of Santa Maria Tepexipana and wanted to help the people there, his family and friends. The region around the village is impoverished and many struggle daily to find enough food. Simply Smiles now provides a shared meal or a food distribution almost monthly for the villagers and those who live in the nearby jungle. Our young people made possible one of these community meals.

“We got the amazing opportunity to hand food to people who had walked miles to get there and may not have eaten for days,” said Hughes. “It was really moving to experience that.”

Another moment came during the group’s visit to Casa Hogar. During Hughes’ first trip, he enjoyed singing and playing songs to the children. On this visit, Hughes gave the guitar to a high school boy from the orphanage. The teen began to play songs in Spanish, some new to the mission group, some familiar enough so the children and the group were able to sing together in Spanish and English. It gave Hughes a new sense of how much this group of orphaned children truly was a family and how spiritually rich their community was.

One of the most eye-opening parts of the trip is seeing how drastically different are the lives of the people who live in Oaxaca. One of the Simply Smiles projects is to help the 28 families who live in the dump in Oaxaca City. These people survive off whatever they can find in the dump, an environment that most cannot even imagine. Hughes tells the story about the first time Bryan Nurnberger, President and Founder of Simply Smiles, visited the dump. The locals offered their elbows rather than their hands to honor those who had come to help them. They did not want their new friends to have to touch their hands. Aiming to preserve the dignity of these brothers and sisters, Nurnberger took their hands and said he would honor them instead.

“It’s about treating people with respect,” said Hughes. “It’s coming into a situation, talking to the people and asking how we can help, not saying here’s what we are going to do to save the day. You build relationships with people.”

Building relationships forms community. Many who attend the trip return because of these relationships and the friendships formed while helping people who desperately need our help.

Silver Lake is in need of support for this trip so our young people may continue to have this important faith building experience. For more information or to make a donation to future Silver Lake Simply Smiles trips, email timh@ctucc.org or call 860.364.5526. To learn more about Simply Smiles and how to get involved, visitSimplysmiles.org.

This year, from March 14 to 21, twenty-one Choate students traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico on a community service trip for the third spring break in a row. Reverend Marc Trister, Head of Campus Ministries, first learned about the community service opportunity from various members of his church in 2009. The service trip to Mexico is sponsored by Simply Smiles, a non-profit organization founded in 2003. As stated on their website, Simply Smiles is “dedicated to building bright futures while improving the daily lives of impoverished children.” Simply Smiles is based in Southern Connecticut and is currently working on service projects in Mexico and South Dakota.

In 2009, Choate had been looking for a new community service opportunity, so Reverend Trister suggested the March break trip to the Choate community. He stated, “It is very important for Choate students to see what is taking place in developing nations where so many people live in poverty.”      Bryan Nurnberger, the President and Founder of Simply Smiles, came to talk to an audience of Choate students, parents, and teachers about a possible trip to Oaxaca, located in southern Mexico. After Mr. Nurnberger talked to the students, a group of interested kids volunteered, and Reverend Trister, his wife Ms. Kathryn Gaffrey, his friend Vince McDermott, and chaperones from Simply Smiles took a group of Choate students to Mexico for their 2009 spring break. In the first year, Choate traveled to Oaxaca, Mexico, where they built a house and distributed ten tons of food to 3,000 people. As the first year was a success, a second group of Choate students traveled to Mexico last March with Reverend Trister, Mrs. Anne Armour, Mr. Vince McDermott, and Reverend Trister’s son Ben to work at the Oaxaca dump and the Casa Hogar orphanage. This past spring break twenty-one Choate students traveled to Oaxaca for the third time with Mrs. Armour, Reverend Trister, and Mr. McDermott.

On March 14, the Choate students arrived in Mexico and drove to the Center of Operations in Oaxaca City.  For the first few days, students painted buildings, rebuilt housing and installed a water cistern in Oaxaca City. After working in the center of operations, the students took a day trip to visit Casa Hogar, an orphanage in Morelia, Mexico. As described on their website, the mission of Casa Hogar is “to aid the children residing in the orphanage, Casa de Hogar El Buen Pastor, to obtain a better standard of living, provide educational opportunities, assist in providing dental and health care, and provide an outlet for self expression.”

After the brief trip to the orphanage, the twenty-one Choate students piled into a bus and drove eight hours to the jungle. The morning after their arrival, they served 300 meals to schoolchildren during the school day. Molly Reneham ‘11, a three-year participant in the trip to Mexico, commented, “At Choate we complain that we are hungry when we have to wait until F-block to eat lunch, but these kids actually are hungry, and I feel good to know that the least that we could do was give them a full stomach for a few hours. It was unbelievably rewarding.”

The next day, Choate students prepared 1,200 lunches for families living in the jungle. While in the jungle, the Choate students gave markers to the children and hosted a movie night featuring Alice in Wonderland. The final night in the jungle, the students traveled three hours to the beach near Huatulco where they were able to relax. Shirley Luo ’13 described the beach as “a relaxing way to end a week’s worth of hard but rewarding work.” In addition, students visited and explored Monte Alban, a prehistorical-Colombian archaeological sight, once a home to the Zapotec Indians.

Mrs. Armour stated, “I believe that Mexico has had a significant impact on the Choate students who have participated in these projects. The issues Simply Smiles and others are addressing in Mexico are vast and profound, so it is hard to say if we have made an impact.” However, according to Mrs. Armour, Mr. Nurnberger has mentioned that due to Choate’s work and the work of other service trips, specifically the monthly food distributions, the people living in the jungle have begun to look healthier. Choate is already planning the trip to Oaxaca for spring break 2011.

“I would ask my family and friends to give me money to head to Mexico for my birthday and Christmas. It’s all I wanted to do.” In 2003, Graves met Bryan Nurnberger, president and founder of Simply Smiles, Inc., a Connecticut-based charity that works in Oaxaca, Mexico and on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. He was just forming the organization. “I admired his approach to how he worked with people. There was no pity, and he didn’t act like he was better than anyone. He just wanted to help his friends.” The two got married in 2009, and Graves will now admit, “I thought he was cute too.”

Graves has released four independent albums in the past 10 years, and is currently preparing to head to the studio to prepare for the release of a 3-song EP. How does she keep a balance? “The experiences in Mexico and South Dakota have definitely helped shape who I am, and how I write. After a trip, I’m always filled with stories that I then share on stage, whether it be a song inspired by someone I’ve met, or just a story that I tell between songs.” This year’s 2011 tour will head to over 25 cities bringing Graves as far west as Denver, CO. “Sharing stories of humanity, and reminding people that we’re all connected is an important part of what I do. It’s a gift to be able to write songs, and it’s a gift to get to know the amazing people I’ve met around the world. It only makes sense to combine the two.”

A fluent Spanish-speaker, Graves has gotten to connect over the years with people that she describes as ‘awe-inspiring’. This upcoming trip in March will lead up to a food distribution, where Graves will be one of many passing out beans, rice and other staples to over 2,500 people from the area. Some recipients will travel as far as 10 hours on foot, just to receive the month’s supply of food. “It’s an incredible chance to be able to help someone else, but I always receive much more than I could ever give. I know it’s sounds cliché, but I don’t care. It’s true!” And will her guitar make an appearance? “Of course! We spend nights sitting outside next to a fire. The starlight, the sweet-smelling jungle air, it’s the best venue I’ve ever played!”

For more information on Kristen Graves, visit: www.kristengraves.com. For more information on Simply Smiles, visit: www.simplysmiles.org.

Simply Smiles is the brainchild of founder and president Bryan Nurnberger, who was profoundly moved by the needs of children in an orphanage he stumbled upon while recovering from an injury in Oaxaca City, Mexico, in 2003. In its seven years, the organization has grown from its initial project supporting the orphans to additional projects in the immediate neighborhood, the jungles in the mountains above, and more recently among the Lakota on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.

“I knew that I was coming to a time in my life and my career that it would be good for me and for the church to move on,” said Rev. Allen. “After a while, the church needs a fresh voice.

“I couldn’t imagine myself in another pulpit. I knew I needed to do something new and different. I needed a new challenge, but I didn’t want to just go to another church. I couldn’t do that.”

The Monroe church had been the third to become involved with Simply Smiles, part of the early efforts to support their first project. Allen then led mission workgroups both from the congregation and on behalf of Silver Lake Conference Center, and he was captivated. “My relationship with the children in Mexico started to grow and deepen,” he recalled. “Their needs, but also their hopes, and their joy were so compelling to me. And I could see the difference they were making in my life and in the life of members of my church, and the difference we were making in their lives.”

“We’ve been growing 50%, 100%, every year,” said Nurnberger, who was honored by the Connecticut Conference in 2010 with the Living Waters Award for lay ministry. “You just can’t do everything on your own in the face of so much need. At this stage of an organization you have to find what I call the ‘Babe Ruth’ person, the right person who can do everything and who can have immediate, tangible impact on the organization. And those people are few and far between.” He was delighted to find the right person in Pete Allen.

“Pete was a logical step for us,” said Nurnberger. “That’s the core of our support, are these UCC churches. To bring in somebody from that world, with that experience, who speaks that language, who has a passion for the organization and a passion for the church, the two dovetail so perfectly that you can’t even see the seam.” Allen’s Sunday calendar is filled with visits to UCC congregations in southern New England to share the word about Simply Smiles.

“The UCC has been the most organic connection Simply Smiles has had,” Nurnberger stressed. Invited early by a family member to address his home church, the Congregational Church of Naugatuck UCC, the word spread quickly through networks of family and friends. The call to Allen reflects this essential support.

“The need always trumps the obstacles.”

Allen is not, however, the first staff member to join Nurnberger, nor the first ordained UCC minister. The Rev. Laura Whitmore, associate minister at the Southport Congregational Church UCC, works part-time for Simply Smiles and coordinates the projects on the Cheyenne River Reservation. The needs are staggering: the infant mortality rate is five times the national average. Per capita income is $9,192. Unemployment is 95%, and the high school drop-out rate in 75%. There is a suicide on the reservation every two weeks among a population of just 9,000. Unlike Oaxaca, the winter climate is harsh and deadly, and people cannot maintain their homes.

Simply Smiles has responded with activities ranging from home rehabilitation to gifts for children. Support for education, job skills, and obtaining such simple things as plumbing supplies have been part of the work.

“I think I can balance [the two callings] because I have a really, really fabulous church who really supports me in doing this and likes being involved in it,” said Whitmore. “We just make it work out.”

“We can’t make that project work without her,” said Nurnberger.

Simply Smiles is fundamentally committed to empowering the people with whom they work. Although the Village Project provides a monthly distribution of food for a Oaxaca community, that was simply not enough. The residents had lost their livelihood as coffee growers, so Simply Smiles has created acoffee distribution channel which has given them a market. Recently the Oaxaca-based staff carried out their first food distribution, without assistance from an American mission group.

“If it’s not friend to friend, or peer to peer, or equal to equal, then you’re not going to create any joy or smile on their face,” says Nurnberger. “So everything builds off that initial moment, that initial relationship of respect and continued respect.”

“I want the UCC churches to understand how much they’re doing,” Nurnberger emphasized, “but I also want the UCC churches to understand that we need more help. We need more churches to get involved… We need everybody. And once we have everybody, then we need everybody else. Because the goal here is to go out of business, to have nothing left to fight.”

“Our primary aim is to help impoverished children,” said Allen. “But a wonderful side benefit is what happens to the people who get involved in the work.” 100% of UCC congregations which have sent groups to work with Simply Smiles have committed to do so again.

“When people are travelling and having adventures and forming new relationships and making a difference in the world,” Allen observes, “suddenly worship becomes more vital, and one’s own personal faith journey becomes more energized… If they want to get involved, that will happen. I guarantee it.”

GUILFORD — Cell phones, running water, electricity — a group of Guilford High School students wants to leave it all behind for a week if it means helping an impoverished community in Mexico.

The teens plan to take off for Oaxaca, Mexico, this summer to live in tents and distribute food to needy villagers, work with young children and build part of a center for the nonprofit Simply Smiles. The nonprofit is coordinating the trip.

But the fundraising for travel expenses and supplies is already starting. On Sunday, the students will be busing tables and working as hosts and hostesses at Su Casa, a Mexican restaurant at 400 E. Main St., which is pledging 15 percent of the night’s profits to the cause.

The volunteers are putting in a lot of work ahead of the trip and know that challenges await them in Mexico.

“But once you see pictures of these kids, there’s no way you could say, ‘I can’t help them,’” said Juan Lluberes, 16, a junior participating in the mission trip.

Lluberes and other high school juniors found out about Simply Smiles and the Oaxaca residents from David Kirwin, 17, and Samantha Berry, 16. The two last year heard a presentation by Bryan Nurnberger, president and founder of Simply Smiles, at a meeting of the Pilgrim Fellowship community service program at the First Congregational Church.

Nurnberger, of Westport, stumbled upon Oaxaca during a trip through the mountains in Mexico. He found an orphanage caring for more than 70 kids and stayed there several months, helping with the youngsters and especially bonding with a boy, 12, with cerebral palsy.

“People would say this kid in a children’s home whose parents abandoned him, who can’t talk and only his left hand works — what kind of tangible effect can he have on the world? But he did by inspiring me and many, many other people down the road,” Nurnberger said Friday.

He said he travels to Oaxaca monthly. He just wanted to make the kids at the orphanage smile, and that’s how the organization was born. Simply Smiles was founded in 2003.

Kirwin said that while he was “intrigued” by Nurnberger’s stories at the Pilgrim Fellowship meeting, he never thought he would travel to Oaxaca. Still, Nurnberger’s descriptions of the area’s poverty, starvation and abandoned children stayed with him, and he and Berry eventually discussed traveling with Nurnberger to help.

They found 18 students and four adult chaperones interested in volunteering June 25-July 2 in Mexico. Each has to raise $1,700 for travel expenses, and building supplies and food that will be bought in Mexico.

They will spend a few days building part of Simply Smiles’ operation center and helping with educational programs for children and then trek eight hours into a jungle to distribute about 12 tons of food to natives.

Some families walk up to 13 miles to the distribution area and wait in line all day, Berry said. A celebration will be held that night with locals. “People seem so grateful and happy because they’re in the jungle and it’s so difficult to find food,” Berry said.Though the teens have yet to take their trip, they are planning to start a club at Guilford High School or in town that sends residents to Oaxaca each year.

“I hope to be able to go again and come back and feel like I made a difference in their lives,” Kirwin said.

Trip chaperones are no less excited and say the entire group will learn to appreciate all they have at home. Barbara Shulman-Kirwin, David Kirwin’s mother, will accompany the teens and said it’s “an honor” to be able to help people in Oaxaca.

“It’s hard to know what to even expect,” she said. “But I think it’s going to be an amazing opportunity for us to be able to give to people who need so much.”

Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 182, Guilford 06437, and checks can be made out to Simply Smiles Guilford.

Call Susan Misur at 203-789-5742. Follow us on Twitter @nhregister.