Thank you to everyone who volunteered this summer in WV and to those that followed and supported from afar. We certainly felt like it wasn’t just our group in WV, but we brought you with us each day to the sites. With the smaller groups and having all the volunteers vaccinated, we were able to have a successful and most importantly, safe summer.

Now that summer is coming to a close, we are looking forward to the next PV service week in Aurora. After discussing with Bruce and Susan, our hosts in Aurora, we have decided to go ahead with our usual fall week. For this service opportunity we will again be requiring all volunteers to be vaccinated. Not only is it important for our community living, but Hesed House, where we spend a lot of our week volunteering with various programs, is requiring all their volunteers be vaccinated. The volunteer week will start at dinner on September 17th and run through the morning of the 23rd. If you are just itching to volunteer and weren’t able to come over the summer, this week would be a perfect fit for you! We do a variety of activities working with local agencies, all coordinated by Bruce and Susan who work for and with most of the social service agencies in the community. And as with all PV sites, the week will be all about community, service and reflection. We hope you can join us!

PV Aurora Week Specifics

When: Sept 17-23

Where: Aurora, IL (about an hour outside of Chicago)

What: A variety of service activities with local social service agencies

Please let us know soon if would like to join us!!!

The PVs had another great week in Wyoming County, West Virginia. On Friday we put the finishing touches on the ceiling at the house on the Welch-Pineville Road. We were not able to get to the last sanding and painting, but it still looks good. The best part of this site was having the home owner say that she had “piece of mind” now that her roof was no longer leaking. Just hearing what a load it took off her to no longer have a leaking roof and a ceiling fallin in, really just made our day, our week, our summer.

After we left the site we went to St. Vincent DePaul to put away all the tools and supplies we used this summer. Even though it was an abbreviated summer, the work the volunteers did was very impactful. And perhaps the best part of the summer was the people we worked for. It was a pleasure and an honor to meet them and work for them.

In the evening, we hosted a community dinner. We invited people from the community that have been a big part of our program, welcoming us, helping us to do the work we do. Wayne and Donna took care of the food prep for our dinner and the blessing before the meal was done by Rose from the Food Bank. We ended up have 22 people for dinner between the volunteers, our community partners and members of Mullens United Methodist Church where we stay.

After our guests left we gathered for our closing prayer service. The theme for the night was transformation. We have all had to go through so many transformations in life, but in particular this last year and half. They can be hard, but it is important to acknowledge them and learn and grow from them. Volunteers shared about their own transformations, in life and in their volunteer experience.

This wraps up our PV Summer Program in West Virginia. A HUGE thank you to the volunteers who travelled and came to particpate. In this world with so much uncertainty we appreciated you. Also a big thank you to Mullens United Methodist Church, and more specifically Donna, for allowing us to call you beautiful church home for this summer. We hope to be back again next summer.

We will be back in action again on Sunday in Wyoming County, WV. Unfortunately we are not able to post to the website from down there, but are able to post onto our Facebook page and Instagram. We would love to have you follow along on those accounts!

PV Community Day…2021 Version
If you are a PV you remember our Sunday tradition of Community Day. We would spend time together as a community playing games, exploring the local area and getting to know each other. This past Friday, the last day of the volunteer week, Community Day took on a different meaning. The volunteers worked side by side with some of the local community working on projects at the church. In the morning volunteers assembled a new picnic table in the playground and cleaned newly donated patio chairs. The church hopes to make a nice outdoor space for people to hang out in. In the afternoon some volunteers helped to replace damaged ceiling tiles while others helped to unpack donated items in the Rummage Room for a future Rummage Sale.

To continue with the Community Day theme, we shared our evening meal with several local community members including two former PV Mullens Soccer Campers. It was especially great to reconnect with them and hear about what they are up do. There may have also been some talk about reviving the camp next summer with their help : )

The day and the week ended with a closing reflection focused on transformation. We shared transformations we have witnessed and/or gone through ourselves.

Thank you to the volunteers who gave of their time and talents to make this week special. We really weren’t sure what to expect starting up again after this past year of uncertainty. We may have been a small group, but the work that was done and lives touched will have a lasting impact. We will be taking a week hiatus, but will be back in action July 25th we hope you continue to follow along.

Today was a good day, if not a little dirty, hot and sweaty and buggy. We started work on a house on Pineville-Welch Road. She needs a new roof, but we are unable to do it for this summer due to lack of time and people, but we wanted to try and stop the water from getting in until we can get to her roof. We started to tarp the the top, tight and snug. Dealing with a tarp that size was a little unwieldy, not to mention the wasps that were not happy we were doing what we were doing, but we manage to get half of it tarped. Inside, a crew worked to replace part of the floor right inside the door that was really soft from the rain leaking in. As usual it was like doing a jigsaw puzzle to make all the pieces fit. All in all, a lot of good work was done and there are a lot of tired PVs tonight.

Dinner tonight was scrumptious as well. We had a southwestern salad with or without chicken, salad and homemade soda bread. I think it tasted extra good after a tiring day. We also had the pleasure of a stop by from Donna and had a great chat and catch-up.

Tonight’s reflection was about Joan of Arc. We learned about her life and her motivation to follow God’s plan. We were then asked to reflect on what God’s plan may be for us in life.

*Reminder, we have been able to post if we do not include pictures. Please check our instagram and facebook for pictures!

The summer program has started and is going much smoother than the posting : ) We have run into some technical issues posting each day, but will continue to try… Instagram and facebook seem to be working fine, so you can keep up there if we can’t get this fixed.