Care Force Chronicle- Charleston, SC

 By Phillip St. Clair





A new mural bench built for

the playground area.



Partner: ARAMARK

Volunteers: 125 volunteers

Service Partner: The Salvation Army

When: November 7-10, 2010

TCF: Dylan Morrill, Georgia Lawrence, Flo Capinding, Steadman Graves, Phillip St. Clair; Project Manager Huw McDonald

Reserves: City Year Washington, D.C. Senior Corps Member Daniel Lawson

After a plane ride from Boston, MA to Charlotte, NC, and then a quick jump from Charlotte to Charleston, SC, we were in the South and I was glad to be back. Having grown up in North Carolina, it was comforting for me to be in a familiar place. We arrived at our hotel, the cylindrical Holiday Inn, located right in the middle of the Ashley River. We had an amazing view of the water from the rooftop restaurant and spirits were high that evening since we had escaped the rainy weather in Boston.

It was unusually cold when we arrived at the service site the next morning and I thought, “Oh great, I was excited to come South for warm weather.” Soon the Director of the Salvation Army, Emily Sawyer, came out to greet us and show us around. We were then given innumerous cups of coffee and hot chocolate and told that if we need anything to just ask. Our prep was easy enough and we were making good headway. To make things even better, the sun came out and it warmed up a lot. I hadn’t worked with Georgia, Steadman, and Flo in a while, and had just met Daniel, but this week just flowed. We knew what we had to do and never ended up rushing or even feeling rushed to do anything. Steadman and I even caught ourselves taking half court shots every now and then. That was of course only after we had finished the tasks in front of us.



Steadman Graves leads his

volunteers in a spirit break.



Our prep week was slightly altered by a group of ARAMARK employees who could not make the service day but still wanted to come out and help. On Monday, we had the 10 volunteers successfully clean up and rebuild a kickball field that the kids truly wanted. Before the field restoration, the kids had been playing in the parking lot. It was really great to see people giving up their time to come out and help before the actual service day.



ARAMARK volunteers paint a
mural in the gymnasium.



The service day was extremely successful for everyone involved and for me especially. I was able to simply converse with my volunteers throughout the entire day which was new for me. I had been on lots of projects that are very spread out or just labor intensive. This project I was contained in one room with 10 volunteers whose task was to paint. I got to crack jokes and discuss my university with a volunteer who was an alumnus. Without much push my volunteers were able to finish five backs for the mural benches and two large wall murals. This was by far the most laid back service day I have had to date, and overall we got a lot accomplished. The lower half of the entire gymnasium and two wall murals were painted and plywood vent covers were assembled. ARAMARK installed a brand new playground set, and added mulch, five mural benches, and two new picnic tables to the area. There is now also an outdoor classroom and playground murals as well as 5 garden beds for the Rain Garden. At the closing ceremony, all of the volunteers and the staff of the Salvation Army said they were impressed at how well organized and prepared Care Force was and that is always a boost of confidence.



ARAMARK volunteers getting some

more paint for their murals.



An ARAMARK volunteer painting

a new hopscotch on the ground.

  

We were also able to indulge in some great Southern food at Jestine's Kitchen and Hymans Seafood. After hearing about what we do, the staff at Hymans gave us free coupons for fresh ice cream and all the hushpuppies we wanted. After dinner, some of us went and hung out with friends of mine in Charleston and had a great time talking by a fire and playing pool outside. I always forget how good it makes you feel when you can reunite with friends you haven’t seen in a long time. This trip was so laid back and cool that I can’t help but think it was due to Charleston, SC and the people who live there. The aura and their vibes rubbed off on Team Care Force and I would love to go back.