It was a cold and foggy Thursday morning... just kidding it was kind of hot and everyone was a little cranky because it was 7am. The ride to Atlanta was full of good jams and conversations about baby muffins and horse-sized ducks. We arrived at our housing site City of Light, and the perpetually amiable Reverend Paul greeted us and gave us a tour of the Spiritual Center. We bonded over grocery shopping at the local Walmart while picking out multiple flavors of pop tarts, break-and-bakes, and 8 pounds of ground beef. We shared mysterious medical stories and wondered how any of us are alive... or can see the world around us (because every last one of us has terrible eyesight). We ended the night feeling warm, fuzzy, and concerned for Owen's health with dreams of chair beds and crashing elevators.
Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we awoke to a wonderful breakfast of sugary cereal and Poptarts. We started off our day of service with our housing site - City of Light. We transported books and some unbelievably old computers to a storage unit. In the process, we managed to make a magnificent library and clean out an entire room to make space for a new office. The new library was #aesthetic once we were done with it. Next, we went to Covenant House for more service. Covenant House is a non-profit that houses 18-21 year olds who have been affected by human trafficking and homelessness. We split into two groups and did two different types of work. One group helped assemble furniture, including a desk and a dresser. The other group helped stamp and address OVER 1800 invitations to their largest annual fundraiser. The fundraiser brings in Broadway stars from New York and last year brought in $600,000. This year, the organization is expecting the fundraiser to bring in $750,000!!! Our small group had a big impact on this organization. The work we did would have taken one person weeks, but we tackled it in a matter of hours. We were proud to have been able to do so much for such a good cause.
We had tacos and coffee for dinner (Fiesta Friday) with BREAK-AND-BAKE COOKIES. We ended the night by playing Clue and Cards Against Humanity. We had some serious Clue amateurs in our group. Overall, it was an amazing day full of laughter, hard work, bonding, and reflection of what we learned from the Atlanta community. On to the next day.. gotta blast!
Scruffy Little City serves as an avenue for LKS Seniors to share their Knoxville experiences with fellow classmates. Please note: all blog posts are due Sundays at 5:00PM each week.
Saturday, October 7, 2017
AFB 2017: Human Trafficking and Women’s Health: Day 3, GETTIN’ DIRTY
This morning we woke up early after being woken up twice by Delaney. We ate some delicious Pop-Tarts and leftover tacos and hit the road to our service site! Our first service site was the adult home for Jerusalem house, an organization that provides long-term housing for individuals and families affected by HIV and AIDS.
We split into groups and tackled various yard work tasks. Some of us planted flowers, including beautiful pansies, while others pulled weeds and transplanted an invasive species. Others tilled a garden and planted head lettuce, mustard greens, and Georgia collards. Owen even used a chainsaw to trim hedges! We made friends with a man named James who taught us how to use a tiller, how to use a garden hoe, and other wisdom from his 21 years of experience with Jerusalem house. He also loves mango juice!
We finished ahead of schedule so after a quick lunch of PB&J’s and chips, we jumped at Sharon’s (the volunteer coordinator) offer to volunteer at their family site down the road. At the family site we met Ron who told us if we helped him rake and clean up the playground area it would put them 3 weeks ahead of schedule—wow! Ron, Owen, and Heather graced us with many leaf-related puns, such as “I be-leaf in you,” “leaf me alone,” and “I’m so re-leafed we finished.”
Next we visited the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic site, which included the King Birth Home, Fire Station No. 6, the King Center, and Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. We learned about the impact Dr. King, Coretta King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Rosa Parks had on civ
il rights, the personal lives of the Kings, and the history of the church—Ebenezer Baptist only had 5 pastors in ~120 years! We also happened to see a historical reenactment of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech from the only Dr. King impersonator sanctioned by the King Center. We saw Dr. and Mrs. King’s tomb and the eternal flame always lit to remember the continuing efforts to achieve equality in every generation.
Later on we showered at Emory for the last time and ate tasty soul food at "Who’s Got Soul?,” which we give a 10/10! Tonight we will continue our tradition of board games and going to bed way to late.
We split into groups and tackled various yard work tasks. Some of us planted flowers, including beautiful pansies, while others pulled weeds and transplanted an invasive species. Others tilled a garden and planted head lettuce, mustard greens, and Georgia collards. Owen even used a chainsaw to trim hedges! We made friends with a man named James who taught us how to use a tiller, how to use a garden hoe, and other wisdom from his 21 years of experience with Jerusalem house. He also loves mango juice!We finished ahead of schedule so after a quick lunch of PB&J’s and chips, we jumped at Sharon’s (the volunteer coordinator) offer to volunteer at their family site down the road. At the family site we met Ron who told us if we helped him rake and clean up the playground area it would put them 3 weeks ahead of schedule—wow! Ron, Owen, and Heather graced us with many leaf-related puns, such as “I be-leaf in you,” “leaf me alone,” and “I’m so re-leafed we finished.”
Next we visited the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic site, which included the King Birth Home, Fire Station No. 6, the King Center, and Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. We learned about the impact Dr. King, Coretta King, Mahatma Gandhi, and Rosa Parks had on civ
il rights, the personal lives of the Kings, and the history of the church—Ebenezer Baptist only had 5 pastors in ~120 years! We also happened to see a historical reenactment of Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech from the only Dr. King impersonator sanctioned by the King Center. We saw Dr. and Mrs. King’s tomb and the eternal flame always lit to remember the continuing efforts to achieve equality in every generation.
Later on we showered at Emory for the last time and ate tasty soul food at "Who’s Got Soul?,” which we give a 10/10! Tonight we will continue our tradition of board games and going to bed way to late.
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