We have it the official middle of the week… my has it flown by.  Although the day started a little dizzily the weather turned out to be ok, a little warm actually.  Today we had four crews out across the county.  We were able to send volunteers to two different Early Head Starts, the one in Baileysville and the one in Matheny.  Although we never have pictures, the volunteers are doing a wonderful job and the teachers are singing their praises.

We sent a group back to Hanover to continue to underpin the trailer.  With the rains from the night before it was even a little more muddy if you can believe it.  The progress being made on the trailer continues to amaze us! 

The fourth group today had a combo site, both in Mullens.  First they went to help a man knock down and haul a way an old building on his property. That sounds simple enough, but there is no way to pull our truck up to it to load the debris so it had to be hand carried down a steep flight of steps and across a highway to the truck (see picture)  We had just gotten into the swing of things when a truck arrived with housewares for the Food Bank that they needed help unloading. We all headed over to help unload the truck and take a quick lunch break.  After lunch we went back and continued to help knock down and haul.  Two trips to the dump were made and the building we wanted to get down, was completed, so a good day.

We have it the official middle of the week… my has it flown by.  Although the day started a little dizzily the weather turned out to be ok, a little warm actually.  Today we had four crews out across the county.  We were able to send volunteers to two different Early Head Starts, the one in Baileysville and the one in Matheny.  Although we never have pictures, the volunteers are doing a wonderful job and the teachers are singing their praises.

We sent a group back to Hanover to continue to underpin the trailer.  With the rains from the night before it was even a little more muddy if you can believe it.  The progress being made on the trailer continues to amaze us! 

The fourth group today had a combo site, both in Mullens.  First they went to help a man knock down and haul a way an old building on his property. That sounds simple enough, but there is no way to pull our truck up to it to load the debris so it had to be hand carried down a steep flight of steps and across a highway to the truck (see picture)  We had just gotten into the swing of things when a truck arrived with housewares for the Food Bank that they needed help unloading. We all headed over to help unload the truck and take a quick lunch break.  After lunch we went back and continued to help knock down and haul.  Two trips to the dump were made and the building we wanted to get down, was completed, so a good day.

Another beautiful sunny day in the mountains of West Virginia…we are only saying this because the weather is suppose to change for the worse tomorrow.  Today three volunteers returned to the Early Head Start and the rest of the group went to the home repair site.  The home repair site looked like the hub of activity in the county.  One group was insulating under the trailer and putting up plastic to protect it, another group loaded the truck for the dump runs, another group worked framing the front of the trailer for underpinning, another worked framing the back and while a group attached underpinning.  It was quite an impressive site.  We were greeted with abundant sunshine in the afternoon, but unfortunately that did not help with the muddy conditions (see pictures.)

In the evening the students were treated to an informative talk from Debbie from St. Vincent DePaul.  She shared information about the floods, the recovery efforts as well as telling a bit about her own experiences growing up and living in the area.  Thank you Debbie!

Some pictures from the day….

Another beautiful sunny day in the mountains of West Virginia…we are only saying this because the weather is suppose to change for the worse tomorrow.  Today three volunteers returned to the Early Head Start and the rest of the group went to the home repair site.  The home repair site looked like the hub of activity in the county.  One group was insulating under the trailer and putting up plastic to protect it, another group loaded the truck for the dump runs, another group worked framing the front of the trailer for underpinning, another worked framing the back and while a group attached underpinning.  It was quite an impressive site.  We were greeted with abundant sunshine in the afternoon, but unfortunately that did not help with the muddy conditions (see pictures.)

In the evening the students were treated to an informative talk from Debbie from St. Vincent DePaul.  She shared information about the floods, the recovery efforts as well as telling a bit about her own experiences growing up and living in the area.  Thank you Debbie!

Some pictures from the day….

Today was a beautiful day in the mountains of West Virginia, lots of sunshine and blue skies.  Although we all enjoyed the weather very much, I don’t think we could fully appreciate how much the local folks appreciated the day.  They, like many in the east, have had quite the winter with many snows.

We had three sites today.  A group went to Baileysville Early Head Start where they worked with six kids, ages 0-5.  A good time was had by the volunteers.  Another group headed to the Itmann Food Bank for some scraping, sanding and painting some of the new walls.  A wonderful lunch was prepared for them by the the Food Bank volunteers.  The rest of the group went to our home repair site out in Hanover, on the far west end of the county.  This area was severely affected by a flood in May and is still in desperate need of help.  We worked on trailer for a woman whose trailer was completely washed away in the flood and is now living in a FEMA trailer.  She a bought a used trailer that needs a great deal of work which we are happy to help her with.  Today a group of volunteers helped pull up old rugs inside, another group began underpinning the outside and a third group worked to insulate under the trailer.  But for those of you who are thinking “I thought we don’t work under trailers”, the trailer sits on cinder blocks 5 feet off the ground so you can easily walk under.  We will be working on this site throughout the week as well as this summer.  Enjoy a few pictures from the day….
We are looking forward to another great day tomorrow!

Happy International Womens Day!!!

Today was a beautiful day in the mountains of West Virginia, lots of sunshine and blue skies.  Although we all enjoyed the weather very much, I don’t think we could fully appreciate how much the local folks appreciated the day.  They, like many in the east, have had quite the winter with many snows.

We had three sites today.  A group went to Baileysville Early Head Start where they worked with six kids, ages 0-5.  A good time was had by the volunteers.  Another group headed to the Itmann Food Bank for some scraping, sanding and painting some of the new walls.  A wonderful lunch was prepared for them by the the Food Bank volunteers.  The rest of the group went to our home repair site out in Hanover, on the far west end of the county.  This area was severely affected by a flood in May and is still in desperate need of help.  We worked on trailer for a woman whose trailer was completely washed away in the flood and is now living in a FEMA trailer.  She a bought a used trailer that needs a great deal of work which we are happy to help her with.  Today a group of volunteers helped pull up old rugs inside, another group began underpinning the outside and a third group worked to insulate under the trailer.  But for those of you who are thinking “I thought we don’t work under trailers”, the trailer sits on cinder blocks 5 feet off the ground so you can easily walk under.  We will be working on this site throughout the week as well as this summer.  Enjoy a few pictures from the day….
We are looking forward to another great day tomorrow!

Happy International Womens Day!!!

We are happy to welcome back to Wyoming County, WV, Northern Illinois University Newman Center back for there 12th spring break service trip.  All 16 participants (we think that is a record!) arrived safely last night around 11:00.  Today started off with Mass at Holy Cross and then a wonderful day of community bonding.  The NIU crew arrived later in the day at the PV house for an evening a food, fellowship, orientation and commissioning.  We were joined for the evening by Arnie and Kathy, who generously shared their wisdom and insights about the area with the students.  The evening closed with the traditional PV Commissioning Service, annointed the volunteers for their service that lies ahead.

Big day tomorrow…Early Head Start, painting at the Food Bank and starting a big home repair project that will last until well into the summer.