HIGH POINT — Eleven days after the tornados ripped through High Point, there’s still lots of cleanup work to be done.

And volunteers are still coming out of the woodwork.

Donald Brewer, JV baseball coach at Wesleyan Christian Academy, has urged his team to become part of that workforce, cleaning up trees and general debris around local houses hit by the storm. Fourteen athletes joined a few parents, the coaching staff and Brewer’s wife, Jennifer to work at some houses off of Bentbrook Drive in High Point Wednesday from 4 until 6:30 p.m., the third time the crew had been out to help during their break.

“Instead of just sitting around the house, we got out and started working,” Brewer said. “That says a lot about the kids, spending their spring break out there working.”

Brewer’s team also helped out in Blairwood Estates in High Point, bringing seven kids the first day and five the second.

“I just felt it would be a good idea for the kids to help out the community,” Brewer said.

But parent Carel Michalski, who also was on-site clearing brush Wednesday, said the effort to mobilize the students stems from an inner motivation shared by both Brewers.

“I think it’s just the kind of people they are,” Michalski said. “They care about the community.”

Although Wednesday marked one of the team’s normal practice days, Brewer still decided to bring the boys out to help. He said the service teaches an important lesson.

“It teaches them responsibility and just to not get rewarded back or anything, just to kind of help out,” he said. “They’re doing good, they’re working hard. They seem to appreciate what they’re doing.”

The experience also shows the kids first-hand what devastation the storm brought. Some Wesleyan teachers and students had homes destroyed by the tornados, so the athletes had heard about the destruction, but Brewer says it’s one thing to hear and another to see.

“You kind of have more respect for what people are going through,” he said. “A lot of them were surprised once they got there and saw how much damage, how much work there was to be done.”

Despite the daunting workload, the boys seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“They are having a ball,” Michalski said. “They’re a good group of kids, and they’re happy to help. I think it’s shown them life lessons off the field — the camaraderie of being around their friends and helping people.”

The athletes said that the message of service certainly had sunk in. Though they liked that Brewer promised them fewer sprints because of their help, the genuine desire to give showed in the boys’ diligence with heavy lifting and polite interactions with homeowners Dot and Ray Whittington — especially since Ray is deaf.

“It’s important because these people can’t do it themselves,” said Woody Cornwell, an athlete on the team.

The Whittingtons themselves say they are blown away by the amount of assistance they have received, not only from the baseball team but from Home Depot, the United Methodist Church, the Baptist Men and the High Point Police Department.

“It’s just mind-boggling, really,” Dot said. “We never expected so much help.”

Though the Whittingtons’ house remained mostly untouched — with only a little damage from a tree that crashed into a house corner — the tornado had wreaked havoc on the yard. Coaches and parents sawed the large trees into smaller pieces while the baseball players heaved them away into a pile for the city to pick up.

“We are very lucky and very blessed that we’re still here and our house is still here,” Dot said. “It’s just been very heart-warming, what people will do. It shows what people are made of.”

Staff Writer Erin Wiltgen can be reached at 888-3576 or at newsdesk@tvilletimes.com