Heat wave doesn't stop student volunteers in Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Just in time for the hottest temperatures of the year so far, nearly 100 young volunteers from across the country are in Fresno hoping to change the world one city at a time.

Leaders with World Changers are doing everything they can to keep the teenagers cool during this heat wave, and, for some, it is an adjustment but for others, the heat isn't so bad.

This week 118 teenagers from 7th-grade through college are in Fresno for the entire week.

It is all part of the experience with World Changers, as students from across the country help out local communities. But this group of volunteers is experiencing the Central Valley's triple digit heat.

"Drinking water like every hour," student Elaina Chao said.

A few minutes or every hour, leaders with the organization are working with the volunteers to keep everyone cool.

"One student on each crew is designated the break master," Philip Marlin with World Changers said. "And so, in the mornings they woke up a little bit earlier and they fill up a water cooler with ice and water."

From cleaning up front yards to putting on a fresh coat of paint on the exterior of a home to building new fences students are working hard under the sun.

Work begins during the coolest part of the day around 7 a.m. and wraps up before the hottest part of the day at 3 p.m.

"We take more breaks in the afternoon then we do in the morning because it is hotter," Marlin said.

Marlin is a Tucson native, the triple-digit is nothing new to him, but for a volunteer from San Francisco, the 100 degree temperatures are a little rough.

"It is a little bit because in the Bay Area it's around the 90s probably right now or 80s," students Maika Lenog explained. "It is not that bad."

In addition to breaks in the shade and at the water cooler, staff and volunteers cool off in a minibus used by World Changers as transportation.

But drinking water is the popular option.

"We're keeping hydrated and drinking water because you know no one wants to faint because of dehydration," Lenog said.