The volunteers wrapped up their week with quite an eventful final day. They were able to finish painting the back porch to wrap up that site (yay!). They installed the shower doors at the bathroom site (yay again!) and actually went to a third site to do a few odds and ends like tightening fan blades and getting an outlet to work again. While they were small things, the home owner was thrilled!
After the sites, the volunteers returned back to the church to begin to prepare to host a community dinner. The community dinner was a tradition the PVs started the first year we stayed at Mullens United Methodist church. We invite any and all would like to share a meal to come. Well this year proved to be a it challenging. In the midst of preparing the meal, Mullens lost power. Luckily with the help of someone with a generator the rest of the food was cooked, and the help of a bunch of candles the church was lit and the meal could go on. This gathering on the final night has become a highlight for the volunteers. The power ended up coming back on around 11pm, so at least in the morning when people were packing up to leave they had light.
We are so thankful for the volunteers who spent the week in WV and carried on the PV tradition. The presence of the PVs as a whole spans not only the 50 years in total, but this was the 25th year in Wyoming County. It is a presence that has a lasting legacy. The site this summer that we did the work in the bathroom had a connection to PVs serving more than 21 years ago. When Tricia and Dan checked the site out at the beginning of the week they were talking to the home owner. She was mentioning how there were fewer volunteer groups coming in and doing work. She told them a group came in and worked on her dad’s house after the flood, the “passionate volunteers” and the family had such a positive experience with them and that she missed them. Of course Dan and Tricia got excited and said “that’s us!” What a great full circle moment and example of the presence of the PVs.
Thank you Tricia, Logan, Dan, Lucy, Bob, Bernie, Ed, Peggy and our newest PV Sue for representing the PVs with grace and love this week. Thank you also to Arnie and Kathy and St. Vincent dePaul for your support of the the program this week and always. And lastly a special thank you to Donna and the Mullens United Methodist community for opening up your doors to us and giving us a wonderful place to call home. It takes a village to keep this program going.
