Care Force Chronicle-Washington, D.C.

by Steadman Graves 


Partner: Inc Magazine
Volunteers: 100
Service Partner: Richard England Boys and Girls Club

When: September 27-30, 2010
TCF: Steadman Graves, Dan Nemiroff
Reserves: City Year Washington D.C. Civic Engagement Team 

For my fourth Care Force trip, I traveled to the nation’s capital. The first day in Washington D.C. we saw a bunch of monuments and visited the White House. It was kind of surreal. I saw places that I had only read about in history books. For work, I arrived ready to capitalize on the knowledge that I had learned during my previous service days, because we all know that Care Force is a learning experience. This event was a lot of ‘firsts’ for me. It was my first event with just Dan and I, my first event working with James, the Care Force Service Manager, my first event working with the City Year Washington D.C. Civic Engagement Team, and my first event sponsored by Inc Magazine. For this trip, we worked at the Richard England Boys and Girls Club in Washington D.C. Each day, 190 children attend the club’s programs. On day one of the prep week, I trained the City Year Washington D.C. Civic Engagement team on how to tape and tarp walls for our painting projects. It was fun but at the same time very different for me. Up until that moment, it was I who who had been in the learning seat, and now I had to teach others the information that had been taught to me.

On top of taping and tarping, we cut a lot of wood. We wanted to give the center bookshelves, double planter benches, and planter boxes. On the third day of prep, we thought we had all the wood that we needed, but after James did a thorough count of the wood he realized we were missing some pieces. Thus, at 4:30 pm we had to make a super fast trip to Home Depot. We got the wood and like a true team we cut and kit it in top speed. We worked together and executed even when we were tired. This team work made that day special to me. Another highlight during the week was teaching a corps member how to cut wood and then watching her cut wood perfectly whenever the saw was placed in her hands.

On the day of service, I woke up at 4am and saw that it was raining like it hasn’t rained in months. That canceled any project that was going to be done outside; fortunately for us we planned ahead and were ready with indoor backup projects. Because it was my first time working with Inc. volunteers, up until this day I honestly didn’t know what to expect of them. When I learned how hard working and dedicated the volunteers were, they instantly inspired me and still continue to motivate me. Some of the volunteers were the actual owners of the business' that were being celebrated by Inc Magazine. Inc. Magazine was having their annual celebration of the top 500 privately owned growing businesses and they wanted to give the business owners an opportunity to give back to a community that was in need. It was so special to me because you rarely see persons of such importance come out and do service. They did an excellent job.  

All in all this was a great event. I enjoyed being in Washington D.C. and I enjoyed working alongside the City Year Washington D.C. Corps. It was during this event that I realized I was able to identify when something was out of place, and whether or not we were on track with our preparation. With every event I learn something new, and with this event I learned that no matter who you are or what position you hold, YOU CAN SERVE.