Thursday was our final work day with LLW. We spent it on the shores of the river in this particularly muddy spot. Part of the group spent some of the day pulling out an entire building's wall from the canopy of a tall tree. Chad made a good point that now that it is removed every passerby will recognize the improvements we have made -big and small. It was amazing how much lumber had been strewn about the woods along the river! At the end of the work day, Shannon and Chad passed out a framed photo of this week's volunteers as a parting gift and delivered a huge 'Thank You' to all of us for coming.
Although it was the end of the work day, our crew still had a full evening planned. Arrangements had been made by Stacey for us to meet with Coe College's student environmental club! On our arrival we were greeted and given a tour of campus, including the library, student center, gymnasium, and a dorm. As special guest to the club meeting, we exchanged ideas for greening each of our campuses. It was great to connect with a college that has similar goals, accomplishments, and challenges as HWS. Coe College has a bike program, optional tray-less dining, an Earth Week celebration, and individual programs that have brought awareness to their campus, such as a plastic bag drive and campus garden. That same evening the club was making recycled notebooks and tablets out of one-sided printed-on paper. Their hope was to give each faculty and staff member one in their mailbox in hopes to remind them to reuse and recycle paper.
Friday morning we left Cedar Rapids at 7 am with a quick stop at Starbucks for a wake up call of caffeine! On the road to Ohio! Ten hours later we arrived at the hostel. The students weren't very inspired to cook their own dinner so we made a stop at Applebees. Generously, Barb, the hostel hostess, provided dry lumber for the students to have a campfire with S'mores that night -their final night together. It was something the students had been hoping to have on their final night every since they had left the hostel last Sunday! I'm glad it worked out.
It went pretty smoothly with the students having a spelling bee and playing Never Ever Have I... in the back of the van and sleeping the rest of the time. I have to give my thanks to Deirdre and Sam for keeping me company up in the front ---I knew it wasn't exactly the prime seat in the van! :)
When I got home (Saturday at 4pm) I was exhausted from the long drive. I'm sure most of the students were well rested or at least better rested than I since they slept in the van. I gave my email a quick check when I got home and realized that Stacey Rice had already requested my friendship on Facebook! Her status was, "In Trip Withdrawl". It had only been about an hour or two since I had dropped her and the other students off at Medbery Parking lot! She was already missing everyone! LOL We all grew together as a strong team over the week. I hope that the friendships that were built continue on especially for our first year students. I've since gotten a few more friend requests from my crew which will hopefully help us all keep in touch as we plan for next years Spring Break with LLW.
I'd like to give my thanks to all of the students who participated in this service trip. You made it fun, eventful, and entertaining! I hope that your dedication, energy, sincerity, and motivation can continue to be effective and beneficial to you and the communities and natural environment you serve in the future.
-Sarah :)
I wanted to let our supporters and blog readers know that I have uploaded a slideshow of photos from our week-long adventure. Many of the students were camera shy or just plain annoyed with my camera-happy self but I did manage to get a few good shots! Also, under "Learn More" on the right menu bar, I've provided a link to a Cedar Rapids news channel which did a feature story on us on Thursday night. Many of our students are either seen in the video or quoted in the article. Check it out!
-sarah
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