Service with a smile
A group of 53 community members met and volunteered their time Oct. 8 to help make a difference in our city by participating in the annual Day of Service.
They split into groups and went everywhere from Priest River to the basement of the SUB to do the activity of their choice, including dog walking, scarecrow building, blanket making, community garden cleanup, assisting at the Saint Vincent de Paul re-store and assisting parks and recreation in Post Falls.
One group joined Dian Hanson, volunteer for Art on the Edge, and Jeni Riplinger, director of Art on the Edge, at Sherman Square Park for a day of scarecrow building and the smell of soup donated by Bardenay. The colorful bowls which were sold for $12 including soup and a breadstick, were donated by the NIC ceramics department.
“We saw the flyer about the soup and came to support Art on the Edge,” said Michelle Mindez, whose children participated. “It’s an awesome program.”
“When we’re done [making the scarecrow] we’re going to get soup. I like the special bowls,” said Mindez’s son Ernest, 14. His sister Lucy, 7, decided on the name of their scarecrow, “Oh! Susanna.”
Many children from around the community also came to build scarecrows that stayed in the park for a week and were then moved to the men’s shelter. The heads were stuffed with straw and sewn together with yarn by volunteers. The children drew their own faces and picked out clothes ranging from dresses to cowboy suits.
“It’s fun,” said Brogan Link, 9, from Sorensen Elementary. “I want to do this every year.”
“I have never done this before,” said Greg Link, Brogan’s father. “It’s pretty cool. I like the finished product.”
Art on the Edge is supported by Saint Vincent de Paul, which has many programs to assist families in need around the community.
Other volunteers helped make blankets to support the Saint Vincent de Paul Transition Center (active since 1994), which helps families in transition progress from being homeless to having a good rental record. It supports a “long term internal change,” according to the Saint Vincent de Paul website, by making sure the residents are drug free, working, have a clean background and are willing to make the sacrifices needed to become a happy, active member of society.
“I like being able to touch a kid’s life and make them feel comfortable and let them know someone is thinking of them,” said student recruiter Sarah Scmelzer, 36.
Sarah Welker, 18, Priest River, theater, volunteers for Girl Scouts.
“It makes me appreciate things even more knowing that we are making these things and someone who needs them will get them,” Welker said.
Kim Normand led the way in the community garden cleanup, which was another Day of Service activity. This was the third year the garden was up and running.
“The garden started as a vacant lot full of potholes,” Normand said. “It was a hill, a mess. The first cleanup we expected six people but 60 people showed up all between the ages of 7 to 72.” She continued explaining the history of the garden.
The community garden, called Community Roots, is located on the corner of 10th Street and Foster Avenue. The land is owned by Marshall Mend, a realtor and human rights activist. Because it is on private property, they can enjoy wine or dinner while working in the garden and they can plant anything they want respecting the fact that it is, in fact, a family garden.
The garden is all organic with a small environmental footprint. It mentors two other gardens in the area, one of which is set up in an almost identical manner. The garden uses no pesticides and watering methods that reduce the amount of water needed. The garden supports 15 soup kitchens and food assistance programs around the area.
Each event had a different purpose, but all had the motivation of helping the community. For information, contact Heather Erikson, coordinator of Student Activities, at (208)-665-5459.
