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Steamboat Springs — Instead of sleeping, "chilling" or biking as they usually would on a gorgeous summer morning, about 20 teenagers helped out Saturday at houses where Horizons Specialized Services clients live.

The youths were part of a volunteer team from Concordia Lutheran Church. Four remained at a house in the Riverside neighborhood at about noon. They already had painted a garage door, trimmed a tree and done other odd jobs. The group was painting a deck before heading out for a birthday party.

"It's like a community, and we really gotta help each other, and most of this stuff doesn't happen unless we make it happen," said Nikki Van de Velde, 14.

She painted alongside her twin brother, John, and their friends Cheyenne Chadwick and Hanson Buchner. Cheyenne and Hanson came partly because they'd slept over at the Van de Velde house Friday night.

Hanson said it was important to help others in the community.

Lending a hand makes things easier, he said, because "disabled people who can't do this work wouldn't be able to get it done without having to pay somebody, especially in this economy."

John and Nikki's mom, Terry Van de Velde, helped coordinate the group at the Riverside house. Marvin Lindsey, the church's mission chairman, also painted with the youths. Another group led by Luther Berntson and Albert Deepe worked at a house on Village Lane, Lindsey said.

Concordia does adult and youth mission projects in and out of town, he said.

"It's a pretty mission-minded church," Lindsey said. "There's always projects needing to be done, and the congregation contributes liberally to the mission."

Organizers have worked with Habitat for Humanity in the past and decided to help Horizons because the agency needed it, Lindsey said.

Terry Van de Velde said her children have volunteered in the past and enjoy doing it.

"They were absolutely willing," she said. "All I had to do was wake them up and get them up this morning. They're a great group of kids."

She said they hope to continue volunteering.

"It's been really fun," Van de Velde said. "We enjoyed it. We hope we can do a lot more."

The gang said they didn't mind the work despite the warm sun.

"It's actually really fun," Nikki said. "You get to be with your friends a lot - and you get pizza."