When the sun came up on Monday morning, Carl took this photo. It was really neat how the sun was shining on the semi-trailer, highlighting MMDC's "Mission in Motion."
Monday
when the Muskegan, MI, volunteers were getting their tour, Judy (the former
monthly volunteer and now caretaker for the rest of the year) and I checked in
some of the donations that came in last week. When a group brings things in,
they're weighed and recorded, but they are not added to inventory until that
group leaves. It speeds things up because there's no emotional attachment to
what they work with while they're here. There are 10 adults in this group from
Michigan staying in the dorm.
We
sorted baby sweaters, caps, mittens, scarves, and material for sewing that
first hour in the heated warehouse. Then we went into the office/workroom building. Judy got the MI
group started assembling school bags while she and I began to count the
bags--except we found most of them didn't have reinforced handles. So I helped
2 of the gals sew today. In the afternoon Judy showed me what to do in the
workroom to clean up for the day, and I took charge of that.
Carl
and Judy's husband Dick got a group set up to varnish school desks and then cut
some things out in the wood shop. In the photo above, Julie and Dick work on a school desk. Dick also showed Carl where the post office
is so that from now on he can pick up the mail every day. They also weighed in
the donations and moved things in the warehouse.
The
staff here is pretty laid back. They don't move too fast because they are
trying to make the volunteers feel at ease. If a volunteer can't stand, they
give them a tall stool to sit on. If they can't lift heavy boxes, the staff
(including the coordinators) does it for them. If they can't walk long
distances, we get supplies for them from the warehouse. Most of the women
working on school bags were 70 to 80 years old. The ones sewing with me were 50
and 67. The staff also is adamant that everyone takes a morning AND afternoon
break AND takes an hour to go back to the dorm (or in our case the duplex) to eat lunch. We work from 8:00
to 5:00, but the volunteers work from 8:30 to 4:00. Tomorrow we'll need to go
over about 7:30 and start the coffee maker.
Lots
of donations don't fit specifications for UMCOR kits, so those are "re-directed."
For example, someone brought in some tanned deerskins. We will take them home
for the Elks to give to the Veterans Home in Iowa for occupational therapy. There
also was a threaded awl for them to use to sew leather.
By
Wednesday I suspect Carl and I will be doing more of the coordinators' jobs.
It'll be different having Dick and Judy here with us, but they are really nice
and want us to do the job we came for even though they're staying on. In the
winter the caretakers don't have as much outside work to do (mowing, etc.)
although Dick's handyman jobs are on-going. Today he and Carl found a gas leak
in the dormitory furnace after someone reported smelling gas.
Yesterday
we couldn't get the satellite TV in the duplex to work, but today the director called in and
they fixed it online. Tonight we decided to go buy some fresh vegetables and
some milk. We're maybe 5 miles from the south side of Springfield where there
is a Meijer's grocery / department store. And we decided to eat in a restaurant
while we were near some.
It's
good we forwarded our home phone calls to my cell phone because I had someone
call today about an organization I belong to at home. I didn't know that was
possible until I called a new gal in my church circle, and she said they were
in Florida for the winter! It doesn't even ring in at home but transfers
automatically.
Today
it was 55 degrees here, but it was breezy and didn't feel that warm. We're out
in the cornfields so the prairie winds are a-blowing.
Wednesday
night we plan to go to the Springfield Elks Lodge meeting. It's nice to have
that home away from home.
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