An Escapade of Grandeur
The only way to describe our trip is 12 brothers turned best friends. From awkwardly waiting in the busy parking lot of Virginia Avenue to board the van, to deep life conversations over cold Casey's pizza; we came a long way these last few days. Being Gumby in Grundy has been an experience none of us will forget.
Friday:
The start of any MAB trip is always full of awkward small talk, one participant getting to know another. As we drove our chatter filled van north toward Trenton, we started to form bonds. To fill the time everyone told embarrassing middle school stories, which ended in laughing so hard that we cried. By the time we had arrived we were already on a much deeper level with everyone. We enjoyed some Casey's pizza for dinner and then ended our night with some card games; ready for a day of service ahead of us.
Saturday:
An early start left the group a little groggy as we left the community center headed towards breakfast. Dennis offered to buy us a nice hot meal from McDonalds to get us a little more energized. Walking into a small town McDonalds, you definitely get a feel for the community. It was one of the first experiences some of the participants had with small town Missouri. After we ate, we headed over to the food bank to start our day of service.
When we arrived Denis told us a little bit about the facility and what work they do. The Grundy County food bank serves about 135 people per week from all over the county. Their programs serve people who fall below a certain income and also residents over the age of 65 who qualify for certain subsidies. Most of these people depend on the food bank every week to help support their families. The food bank has grown over the years from the hard work of all the volunteers in the community who spend countless hours ensuring that people have food every week. The entire food bank 'staff' are volunteers; there are no paid workers.
Our service consisted of lots and lots of painting. They needed a bit of a fresh, clean face to the walls in the food bank that were starting to get a little grungy. Through our day painting, we danced to Disney songs and uncontrollably laughed as the fumes slowly made us crazy. Some recall moments washing paintbrushes and singing "Don't Stop Me Know" that made a perfect moment in their memories. Others won't forget the creepy old dolls found in the connecting thrift store that will haunt their dreams. But overall, we will all remember how everyone was Gumby and willing to step in and do whatever needed to be done for this worthy organization. By the end of the day we probably had a little more paint on us than the walls, but it was worth the hard work to see such a great transformation.
But the selflessness of everyone didn't stop there. A couple of people worked for almost 2 hours making sure that our dinner was delicious and met the needs of everyone. After we eat our dinner we had reflection. Reflection is a safe space where everyone can share moments from the day and their life that had impacts on them, and everyone listens and connects with people from all backgrounds that they may have never had the opportunity to meet in other situations. While I cannot say what was said, I can say that in those hours of deep conversation we went from 12 people to 1 community; we really felt the power of what MAB can offer. We ended our night around 1:30 AM, after more cards, a movie, and some team slam-dunks on the basketball court connected to the community center (KOBE!).
When we arrived Denis told us a little bit about the facility and what work they do. The Grundy County food bank serves about 135 people per week from all over the county. Their programs serve people who fall below a certain income and also residents over the age of 65 who qualify for certain subsidies. Most of these people depend on the food bank every week to help support their families. The food bank has grown over the years from the hard work of all the volunteers in the community who spend countless hours ensuring that people have food every week. The entire food bank 'staff' are volunteers; there are no paid workers.
Our service consisted of lots and lots of painting. They needed a bit of a fresh, clean face to the walls in the food bank that were starting to get a little grungy. Through our day painting, we danced to Disney songs and uncontrollably laughed as the fumes slowly made us crazy. Some recall moments washing paintbrushes and singing "Don't Stop Me Know" that made a perfect moment in their memories. Others won't forget the creepy old dolls found in the connecting thrift store that will haunt their dreams. But overall, we will all remember how everyone was Gumby and willing to step in and do whatever needed to be done for this worthy organization. By the end of the day we probably had a little more paint on us than the walls, but it was worth the hard work to see such a great transformation.
But the selflessness of everyone didn't stop there. A couple of people worked for almost 2 hours making sure that our dinner was delicious and met the needs of everyone. After we eat our dinner we had reflection. Reflection is a safe space where everyone can share moments from the day and their life that had impacts on them, and everyone listens and connects with people from all backgrounds that they may have never had the opportunity to meet in other situations. While I cannot say what was said, I can say that in those hours of deep conversation we went from 12 people to 1 community; we really felt the power of what MAB can offer. We ended our night around 1:30 AM, after more cards, a movie, and some team slam-dunks on the basketball court connected to the community center (KOBE!).
Sunday:
After waking up and enjoying a nutritious college breakfast of leftover ice cream and pizza, we headed out for a few extra hours of service. We re-painted the parking lot and helped move some things around in the food bank. While cleaning up and ready to head out for lunch we took some pictures with our new favorite person, Dennis. He was the one who helped coordinate our service and stay here in Grundy, and he can talk anybody's ear off if they let him. We really enjoyed the wisdom and experiences he was able to share with us over the course of a couple days, and were extremely sad to leave him, but knew that he will stay in our hearts forever. We ate at a local dinner for lunch, with some of the best food may I add, returned our Redbox, took a few pictures with local "landmarks", and embarked on our journey home.
After waking up and enjoying a nutritious college breakfast of leftover ice cream and pizza, we headed out for a few extra hours of service. We re-painted the parking lot and helped move some things around in the food bank. While cleaning up and ready to head out for lunch we took some pictures with our new favorite person, Dennis. He was the one who helped coordinate our service and stay here in Grundy, and he can talk anybody's ear off if they let him. We really enjoyed the wisdom and experiences he was able to share with us over the course of a couple days, and were extremely sad to leave him, but knew that he will stay in our hearts forever. We ate at a local dinner for lunch, with some of the best food may I add, returned our Redbox, took a few pictures with local "landmarks", and embarked on our journey home.
This trip we have experienced leadership, service, and most importantly friendship. We laugh uncontrollably together and accepted each other's quirks. We started the trip 12 relative strangers, and ended as a unified group of brothers with experiences to carry with us the rest of our lives.
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