“Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of everyone one, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.” – George Washington.

On the 250th birthday of the country, these words from George Washington seemed a perfect representation of this wonderful group of volunteers who opened their hearts and hands to help their neighbors this past week in Wyoming County, West Virginia. They stepped away from their jobs, their families and their lives back home to be present and help in any way that was asked of them. They replaced floors, fixed gutters, painted, drywalled, put insulation under a house, planted flowers, installed toilets, cleaned and organized, prepared meals, supported each other and reflected each night. They are an example and inspiration to all of us to find ways to help our neighbors.

Thank you to each volunteer for their time and inspiration. To the first time volunteers, thank you for taking the leap and becoming part of the PV family. To the returnees, your continued dedication to the PVs is admirable and is what keeps this program alive, 53 years after it’s inception. Thank you also to all who couldn’t be there, but supported the group with prayers or donations. Your support from a far is felt and appreciated. Every person played a part in this successful week. Until the next one…

The volunteers are getting close to wrapping up the week. As has become a tradition since we started staying at Mullens United Methodist, the PVs hosted their annual Community Dinner. It is a chance for volunteers to connect with the local community by opening up the doors to anyone who would like to join. This year more than 30 people came and joined together in an evening of fellowship. We are so grateful for the time together and the support we have been shown.

Volunteers have arrived from far and wide and are ready to get to work! We have long time volunteers (30+ years), newbies and many in between. They have come from all over with the purpose to give of their time to help their neighbor and build community. They will be tackling several different projects during the week, quite literally working from floor to ceiling, wall to wall. We can’t wait to share all the wonderful things they will do!

Those of you who are reading this that have volunteered will remember the rhythm of the arrival day…. unpacking, seeing old friends, meeting new friends, sharing a spaghetti dinner and finishing the evening with commissioning. And then there is the anticipation of the week ahead and you lay your head down on your pillow. Until tomorrow!

The volunteers finished up their work at the site in Welch today. They had a great experience working side by side with the home owner helping her get a new start after the flood and helping her settle in to some normalcy before the new school year begins.

At the other site the volunteers had a little bit of delay waiting for the underpinning to arrive. They knew they wouldn’t be able to get it until today, but to even get that took some heroics from the lumber store. Because of the extreme heat they weren’t going to get their delivery, but the owner knew we were waiting on it and had a tight timeline, so he went and picked it up himself and delivered it to the site. That kind gesture really helped us out. We were able to get started today and will finish up with the underpinning tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be the last work day of the week for the volunteers and it will wrap it up with a community dinner. Usually the volunteers host the dinner at the church, but this year there has been a community bible camp all week and they are hosting a dinner for the last day and invited us to join in. We will post more on that and more pictures, but it will be a bit of a delay for the wrap up. The admin that has been posting here from a distance (Jill) is heading out of town tonight for the next week. After the 4th look for a final round up. Thanks for following along!

This has been a mantra with For the PVs for decades and still holds true. The cornerstones of the PVs have always been service, community and reflection. The service brings the volunteers together and gives a purpose, but building community is equally important, as is reflecting together at the end of each day. New and good anyone??? This summer’s volunteers are no exception. They have embrace all three aspects of the PVs and because of that have touched lives, their fellow community members and those in the greater Wyoming County.

Some pictures from the day: