The last few weeks have been very busy. In the past four weeks we have had four groups come and stay at the Foley Center and work at various job sites during the days. Each group has been unique, but all were full of energy and ready to work.
One group has made many trips to Kentucky and to the Foley Center. They knew the routine by heart, and even fixed their own breakfast on Saturday morning before leaving. They were ready to work and appreciated every meal. It was great to talk to them about how they have experienced change since first coming to CAP.
In contrast, the next group brought 47 people, all new to the program. This group was split between five work sites. They were spread between south of Pikeville, to Boons Camp and sites in between. The first day of their work schedule was beautiful weather. The second day, however, the rain moved in. In spite of the changes, they were all terrific workers.
Another thing that stood out with this large group was their dedication to why they came to CAP. Every evening they had time set aside for group devotion. The nights were assigned to specific leaders, and everyone participated. Each group spent time getting to know the participant they worked for. They knew them by name, and treated them with great respect.
This group was full of questions. The night that Jenny King (coordinator for CAP's Christian Partners program) came to speak, they kept her answering questions for over an hour. As part of their discussion that evening, they were making plans on how to help more on future trips. In short, they were another wonderful group of volunteers.
The next two weeks will prove to be busy as well. This week we have another small group who are just like family. It is great to have people come back year after year. Next week we will have two separate groups coming, We will probably only have 14 in total, but since one are old timers, and the other group are new, it should be a good mix.
After the groups leave next week, we will move from the group season, to starting the holiday season. Thank heavens for the Foley Mission Center.
Debra and her husband Jim are second-year long-term volunteers, serving as Independent Living volunteers. Debra serves as the Mission Group Facilitator/Housekeeper for CAP’s Foley Mission Center. Opinions expressed in volunteer blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of CAP or the Volunteer Program.
