Day of Service: One Week Out | Journal Part 13

Today was supposed to be our Day of Service.

When we first started planning all of this months ago, Friday, September 18 was the date we put on the calendar. If everything had gone according to that original plan, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here writing this morning. We would already be getting ready to meet volunteers at a veteran family’s home in Caroline County, putting up tents, unloading equipment and figuring out where to start.

Obviously, the road here took a little longer than we expected. If you’ve been following this journal, you know that already, so I’m not going to retell the whole story. Somewhere along the way, September 18 became September 25, and looking at where we are today, I’m glad we didn’t force the original date just to say we kept it. We needed the time.

Last Friday, I ended the journal by saying that we finally had the family and the address, and it was time to find out what they needed. This week was about answering that question.

I went to the property myself last Friday, walked around, took pictures and got a better feel for what we were dealing with. The 516 Project also sent someone out separately that morning to complete their assessment. During the week, I met with some of the people who have already volunteered to help, and Thursday afternoon Ryan and I sat down and went through the project together.

After spending so much time trying to figure out where this Day of Service was going to happen, it feels pretty good to finally be talking about mulch, weed eaters, gutters and who might have a wood splitter.

Most of the work is going to be outside. There is quite a bit of overgrowth that needs to be cut back, mowing and weed-eating to do, bushes to trim and accumulated yard debris to remove. We are planning to spread mulch, clean and secure portions of the gutters where needed, put a tarp over the shed and move debris around the property. There is also wood that could use splitting if we can secure the right equipment.

It isn’t a major renovation project, and honestly, it doesn’t need to be. There is plenty there that a group of people with the right equipment and a willingness to work can make a real difference on in one day. We aren’t looking for the biggest project we can find so we can create some dramatic before-and-after picture. This veteran and her mother simply have some things around their home that they could use a hand getting under control.

Something else from the site visits stayed with me. I went to the property on my own, and The 516 Project completed its assessment separately. When Ryan and I sat down Thursday afternoon and compared what had come out of those visits, we realized we had both come away with almost the exact same impression.

She still isn’t completely comfortable being the person receiving the help. During my visit, she kept coming back to the fact that other people need help too and questioning whether she should be the one we’re doing all of this for. The feedback from The 516 Project’s visit was much the same. She seems like somebody who is simply much more comfortable giving to other people than having people show up for her.

I don’t look at this as a question of who deserves help more. Sometimes you are the person doing the giving, and sometimes you have to let somebody else show up for you. Next Friday, we’re asking her to let us be the ones who show up.

If you’ve been following the search for the veteran family, you know that simply getting to this point took some time. Now our attention has shifted almost completely from finding the project to getting ready to do the work.

We already have individuals, businesses and community partners who have said they want to participate. This week isn’t about finding people from scratch. It is about figuring out who can provide what and putting the pieces together.

Some people can help with the physical work, and some have equipment they can bring. We’ll need the usual yard equipment—mowers, weed eaters, hedge trimmers, blowers, rakes, shovels and wheelbarrows—but that is only one part of the day. We also have to work out bottled water and sports drinks, breakfast, lunch, snacks and whether some of the participating businesses can help with project materials.

Not everyone has to spend the day cutting brush or pushing a mower to be useful. We need people checking volunteers in, keeping the hospitality area organized, keeping the coolers filled, getting food out and making sure the people doing the physical work can keep going throughout the day.

Real Property Management Regions has some of that covered already. I have 10-by-10 tents I’ll bring down, along with coolers and ice. Ryan and The 516 Project are coordinating the mulch, tarp for the shed, gutter clips and some of the other materials identified during the assessment. Now it is a matter of talking to everybody else and figuring out what they can contribute and where they can be most useful.

I actually like that part of this. Service doesn’t have one job description. If somebody spends the day running a weed eater, great. If somebody spends the day making sure that person has cold water and something to eat, we need that person too. If somebody can only give us a few hours instead of the whole day, we’ll take those few hours and put them to good use.

One Week Out

Even though today was originally supposed to be the Day of Service, it is still going to be a pretty busy Day of Service day for me. Once I get through a few meetings this morning, most of the rest of my day is going to be dedicated to September 25.

I’ll be reaching back out to the volunteers and businesses that have already agreed to participate, sending emails and making phone calls so we can start putting names next to responsibilities. We need to know who is coming, how long they can stay, what equipment they can bring and where they can help most. We also still have some of the normal project details to close out: arrival times, materials, debris removal, parking, food and water, safety, any ladder work, and, of course, the weather.

The 516 Project is creating the official volunteer job and coordinating its side of the project, including volunteer waivers and materials. I’m also starting our media outreach today. I’ll be contacting local news outlets to let them know what we’re doing, confirming with the elected representative who has expressed interest in attending and continuing to work with Ryan as everything comes together.

I would love for people in the community to see what can happen when businesses, volunteers, a nonprofit partner and regular people decide to give some of their time and resources to help somebody else. At the same time, we’re going to be very careful about how we tell that story because this is somebody’s home.

Publicly, we’re saying that we’re helping a local veteran and her mother in

Caroline County.  We aren’t publishing their names or the address. Registered volunteers will receive the location because they obviously need to know where they’re going, but that is where it stops.

The same applies to the media. If the family decides they want to speak publicly, be photographed or tell their story, that is their decision. They do not owe us that because we are coming to help. We can tell the story of people coming together to serve without taking away the family’s privacy in the process.

The funny thing about reaching what was supposed to be our original Day of Service is how different the problems look now. A few weeks ago, I was worried about whether we would even have a veteran family to serve. Today, I need to figure out who has a weed eater, whether we can get a wood splitter, how much water we need, who is helping with lunch and whether we have enough hands to get through the work. I will gladly take those problems.

A week from now, all of these emails, phone calls, meetings and lists turn into people pulling into a driveway and getting to work. We’ll put up the tents, fill the coolers, start the mowers and weed eaters, move debris and spread mulch. I’m sure something won’t go exactly according to plan, and somebody will probably have to make a run for something we forgot. That’s real life. I’m not looking for a perfectly choreographed day. I want us organized enough to take care of our volunteers, respect the family’s property, work safely and leave their home better than we found it.

Looking back, I would not trade the extra week just so we could say we kept the original September 18 date. We needed the time to get here the right way, and now we have seven more days to make sure we’re ready.

Most importantly, next Friday I don’t want this veteran spending the day wondering whether somebody else deserved the help more. I hope she and her mother can simply look around and see a group of people who chose to be there for them.

For thirteen entries, this journal has followed us as we’ve tried to get to this point. Next Friday, there won’t be another journal about trying to get to the Day of Service. We’ll finally be there, and we’ll get to do the one thing this whole series has really been about: show up and get to work.