Communications Team Blog : 7.7.22
Volunteering = Celebrating
Maybe we still had the July 4 fireworks on our mind, but much of our July 7 Work Day felt like a celebration. In part, this was because we started the day off with celebration as Extreme Community Makeover (ECM) was “unofficially” designated as a Service Enterprise through Points of Light! One of the “official” goals of the day was to host a site visit for the facilitators of the Service Enterprise program. They planned to observe the Work Day as a final step in the process. It didn’t take long for them to experience how special ECM is – so they announced that their recommendation would be for certifcation!
This celebratory spirit was carried throughout the day by our group of volunteers, who cleared four alleys and cut back weeds and limbs in a neighbor’s yard to help ensure her house remained comfortable and safe. The day was very hot and threatened briefly by rain, but the positive attitudes of our volunteers built on one another, and we were all smiling through the heat when we saw the difference being made with each bag of trash being thrown into the dumpster.
High School youth groups from both Arizona and Kansas volunteered with us through the YouthWorks program. Even though they were visitors to the city, they devoted themselves to our community as if it were their own. It was a great reminder that serving our neighbor isn’t just about serving those who live closest to us. With their music and laughter, you wouldn’t know that they were working incredibly hard on a hot day. One student volunteer, Madelynn, was in a boot after a foot injury, but even that didn’t stop her from working (carefully) alongside her friends to pull weeds and trim trees.
“ECM has been a great part of our trip to Denver – it’s so nice for our students to meet the residents they’re helping, and physically see the difference they are making with every weed they’re pulling.”
More celebration could be seen in the faces of residents. We got to meet a resident that was so relieved when a few ECM volunteers - a mother and her two daughters – put down their rakes to help her repaint her retaining wall. Another resident kindly offered water and Gatorade to ECM volunteers, thanking them for cleaning the alley debris that had been bothering her for weeks. Terry is a long-time friend of ECM, and in between helping our volunteers with the yard work around her home, she expressed her great appreciation for the work of ECM.
“Now I can walk outside and not be filled with stress and worry – now I can enjoy my yard again!”
Now that is something to celebrate!
- Lizzy, Communications Team