“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is ‘What Are You Doing for Others?’”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
On Monday morning, AmeriCorps members all gathered in the main building of Catholic Charities. Everyone was eager to get to work due to the amount of work that needed to be done. With the sun brightly shining, the members got right to work on a variety of projects that were all physically demanding.
There were a lot of members who worked on cleaning up the community garden, which meant there was lots of pulling of weeds from the garden beds, shoveling up weeds from the ground, and raking out the extra leaves. Other members were hard at work cutting down rose bushes and cleaning up the excess amount of shrubs around the buildings.
Another group of members cleaned out the front area of the drop-in building, which is very busy throughout the week. A few members also helped out inside the buildings by answering phones, cleaning, and making sandwiches for the residents. AmeriCorps member Lavonne Toso said of her experience: "I really enjoyed talking to the different people that were living there or using the resources given by Catholic Charities."
Other members moved furniture out of rooms so that they could be painted. The work didn’t just stop at Catholic Charities because there was another group who went to Julliard Park to landscape, plant, and cleanup the area. AmeriCorps member Alex Rowan said of the work at Julliard Park: "From weeding to planting ferns around the park, we all felt great getting our hands dirty and giving back to the community."
During this rewarding time of service, there were smiles, laughter, and joyous conversations happening everywhere. The CalSERVES AmeriCorps team really came together to get things done for America and to follow through with the vision of Martin Luther King Jr. AmeriCorps member Ashley Schalich noted: "I really enjoyed seeing how much our group accomplished in such a short amount of time - everyone worked together to make a noticeable, significant change for our local community."
Working together for a greater cause is not unusual for this team and after seeing the difference that their services provided on this day, it’s clear that these members continually serve their community straight from their heart.
Martin Luther King Jr. said it best: “Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
by Sandra Hwang, CalSERVES AmeriCorps Leader
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