Visiting campers fight to stay cool

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - The triple-digit temperatures didn't dampen their spirits even as they labored outside in the sun.  Some 300 teens from across the U.S. are spending the week in Kansas City during what could turn out to be the hottest week of the summer.

They are doing community service projects as part of Catholic Heart Work Camp.  A group of about 15 or so gathered near downtown Overland Park to paint a house for someone in need.  Most in the group came from northern states like Minnesota and Michigan.

But most said they are tolerating the heat just fine. 

Ashley Sword said she is used to the heat because of the unusually hot summer in her hometown of McHenry, Ill.  Sword says McHenry, in northern Illinois, almost never sees temperatures in the hundreds, but this year it has seen several.

Some campers kept their spirits up by singing popular songs while they worked.  Others, like Ian Flynn, of Kalamazoo, Mich., trotted out his talent for speaking in foreign accents. 

Flynn said it's cooler in Michigan, but he doesn't mind working in the Kansas heat.

He admitted the first thing he'll do when he gets home is take a shower.