As our service day for Monday, January 17, 2011 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day - approached, members of our team were greeted by email with the sentiments that we wanted to spend our day of service honoring the man and his life actively rather than in any indoor reflection - say watching a film.
It was decided that we would assist the Meza family in clearing the debris from the house that had burned. On a beautiful sunny day, we took wheelbarrows and shovels and buckets and worked to fill trucks with the ashes and debris as the back-hoe continued to level the charred structure. We could not change the tragedy that befell the Meza family. It made us proud to give what help we could, however.
With the AmeriCorps crew of over 30 members and volunteers including a large group from Whitman College, it was many hands on task. After a good and solemn speech by Stephanie, and a moment of silence, we went to work. I was grateful that while at other times we might gripe about the worker to work ratio, this was not-at-all the tone today.
There was a spirit of cooperation as some stepped up on the dumpsters to take buckets from others. D gladly said she had had one of the best jobs, when for an earlier time during the day, she got to watch the youngest one present at the scene. Towards the end, Jacqueline finished distributing the homemade muffins someone had brought. As dusk approached and we turned back, I know we felt the day's service was meaningful even though it could not embody the true condolence we wish for the Meza family.
It was decided that we would assist the Meza family in clearing the debris from the house that had burned. On a beautiful sunny day, we took wheelbarrows and shovels and buckets and worked to fill trucks with the ashes and debris as the back-hoe continued to level the charred structure. We could not change the tragedy that befell the Meza family. It made us proud to give what help we could, however.
With the AmeriCorps crew of over 30 members and volunteers including a large group from Whitman College, it was many hands on task. After a good and solemn speech by Stephanie, and a moment of silence, we went to work. I was grateful that while at other times we might gripe about the worker to work ratio, this was not-at-all the tone today.
There was a spirit of cooperation as some stepped up on the dumpsters to take buckets from others. D gladly said she had had one of the best jobs, when for an earlier time during the day, she got to watch the youngest one present at the scene. Towards the end, Jacqueline finished distributing the homemade muffins someone had brought. As dusk approached and we turned back, I know we felt the day's service was meaningful even though it could not embody the true condolence we wish for the Meza family.
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