I awoke to warm sunlight streaming through the blinds in my bedroom. Climbing out of bed, I pulled on my work pants and an old T-shirt, filled up my water bottle, grabbed my scribbled directions and headed out the door. I was on my way to my first service project with the United Way Young Leaders Society.
I had received an email in my inbox a few weeks before from Arlene Brown and Lisa Jones-Boyd, the service committee chairs, about a playground build in Lipscomb, Alabama, that Saturday, July 23. They were asking for volunteers and needed at least 10 members to attend. Even though I had never built playground equipment before and couldn’t locate Lipscomb on a map, I wasn’t discouraged. I emailed Arlene back and told her that I would be there. Spending part of my Saturday assembling a playground for children seemed to me to be a worthy endeavor, plus working with a group of other service-oriented young people sounded like a lot of fun.
The sky was a bright summertime blue with a few puffy clouds lazily drifting by as I drove down I-20 West toward Lipscomb. I turned off the highway and drove past small houses with scraggily lawns, over an old railroad track and past a large brick church. Angels in the Sky Daycare, where we would be building the playground equipment, was on my left. I turned onto the road and parked my car. In the small driveway behind the daycare I met Nikki, one of the other Young Leaders there to help for the day. Uncertainly I asked her if this was where the playground build was taking place, she said yes and introduced me to the United Way project manager, Beth Johns. Some of the other Young Leaders were gathered around the project manager; they smiled welcomingly at me. The project manager explained that the playground equipment that we were going to assemble that day had been purchased with a grant that United Way had received. By purchasing and installing playground equipment in daycares in low-income areas, United Way was hoping to encourage more physical activity for the children. On the day of our playground build, they had already built more than 20 playgrounds at daycares.
Ashley and Nikki (Photo by James Cartee)
Our three expert playground-building contractors had already assembled part of the plastic playground structure. It sat uncertainly in the middle of the grassy yard. Eagerly we gathered around the crew for our instructions. Tony gave us screw guns and wrenches and we worked in groups of twos to attach plastic feet onto the equipment. Then Resee, Nikki, Tony, and I attached the plastic steps to the equipment platform. It was tough and frustrating, but we felt a sense of accomplishment when we finally got the screws to catch. Unfortunately it had to be unattached and reattached later, but we just joked that it was easier the second time. Soon, more Young Leaders arrived and pitched in where ever they were needed. Everyone was willing to help.
Rahkia Nance (Photo by James Cartee)
While a group of us continued assembling the new playground, another group got out the rags and cleaning solution and wiped down the old playground equipment. It was sparkling by the time they were through! When we weren’t working, we were hanging out in the shade of the porch, talking, sipping water, and eating the generous amounts of snacks provided by United Way. After our break, we all grabbed rakes and shovels and pitch forks and began spreading the mulch around the assembled playground equipment. One of the contractors would bring a load of mulch over in the Bobcat, dump it next to the legs of the playground and we would start spreading it around. It was hard work, but with all of us working together it didn’t take too long. Once we had finished spreading the mulch and stepped back, we were amazed. The yard had been completely transformed from an empty piece of grass into a beautiful new playground! Proud of our accomplishment, we gathered around the structure and took pictures. It was such a great feeling!
(Photo by James Cartee)
(Photo by James Cartee)
We gathered on the porch one more time, sipping water, and saying our good-byes. I looked at my watch, it was only noon. What a great day! I had met some nice, funny, dedicated people, assembled a playground for lots of cute daycare children, and still had half of the day left to do other things. I will definitely be back for the next service project, and I hope to see you there too!
No comments:
Post a Comment