Living It Up in the Garden

Having worked yesterday serving food at a Seattle mission, today the PVs where on the other side of the food process. The volunteers spent their day preparing the land for a garden which in turn will produce the crops that will then be shared with the people of West Seattle and White Center.  Our Lady of Guadalope Church, which is graciously hosting the PV Volunteers this week, is the home of a community garden where the harvest is given to food banks in the neighborhoods of West Seattle and White Center.  Nothing beats fresh produce! How wonderful that the PVs can lend a hand to such a fantastic project.

The PVs ended their day in a most enjoyable way, relaxing by a nice fire on the shores of Alki Beach.  If you look closely, you can see the mountains off in the distance.  What a beautiful setting for the volunteers to reflect on their experiences from the day.

Swinging into Action in Seattle

Morning came early for the PVs on their first full day of service. At the break of dawn, the PVs headed over to the Union Gospel Mission. Close to 300 people came to the Union Gospel Mission this morning for breakfast and the PVs where there to serve it with a smile. The Union Gospel Mission provides emergency care and long-term services to people in the Seattle area who are homeless. On average close to 1,300 people a day are served by the Union Gospel Mission.

After breakfast, the volunteers visited the famed Pike Place Market to grab a bite to eat before heading over to the offices of S.H.A.R.E, (Seattle Housing and Resource Effort) and W.H.E.E.L. (Women's Housing, Equality, and Enhancement League) to help organize their office space.  SHARE/WHEEL works to eradicate homelessness, educate the community about issues involving homelessness and housing, and empower those who find themselves in a homeless situation.  Both of these organizations are made up of people who are homeless or are formally homeless.  

From all reports it was a terrific day!

Welcome to Seattle!

A brand new chapter in the long history of the PV Volunteers has begun! Today marks the kickoff of the Seattle program.  Below are pictures from the community meal shared at Our Lady of Guadelupe Church, which is graciously hosting the PVs for the week. We are so excited to be planting the seeds of new beginnings as we embark on this venture. Make sure you visit the blog each day to read about the work being done by the volunteers.

Seattle Program Begins

Tomorrow the PVs kick off an exciting new adventure, a new program in Seattle. During this week-long inaugural trip volunteers will be working throughout the Seattle area on several different projects including; serving meals, working in a community garden that supports a local food bank, work with Habitat for Humanity and a day working with an organization that assists local families. The week looks to be inspiring, challenging and hopefully, life changing. Please keep the PVs in your thoughts and prayers during the week.

Check back during the week for daily blog posts and pictures chronicling our adventures!

A Thank You Chili Supper in Illinois

This weekend, PVs from St. Joseph's Parish in Brimfield, IL hosted a chili supper to thank the church for their continuing support of the PVs. St. Joseph's has had a special partnership with the PVs for the past several years, taking up special collections to help support the work. PVs and parishioners, Chuck and Kathy Koller, Bill and Judy Passie and Dale and Mary Kay DeVries hosted the event and gave a presentation to let the parishioners know what their generosity is helping to fund. Besides the presentation, there was the chili cook off as well as a few games of  Bingo. By all reports a fun time was had by all.

Thank you St. Joseph's, Kollers, Passies and DeVries for all you do for the PVs!

Jersey Shore/Hurricane Sandy Cleanup Weekend

Thanks to all who came out for our weekend of lending a hand at the Jersey Shore for Hurricane Sandy Cleanup. We were all amazed at how much damage there was and how much work still needs to be done. The pictures and news reports were something to see, but to be on the ground and talking with the people effected was a really moving experience. The people are fighters and are determined to get things up and running for the upcoming summer. Our first job when we arrived was to help clean up Ocean Avenue in Seaside Heights so they could have their Easter Parade. The town is trying to get people to come back down to the boardwalk and continue with some sort of normalcy. Several of the stores and restaurants are back open, but very few residents are back in there houses and most residential areas still have no electricity.

For the weekend we teamed up Americorp and did several different projects ranging from gutting houses to removing sand from yards and driveways. It was inspiring to work alongside home owners, as well the local residents who have put in many hours helping their neighbors. There is a long way to, but the drive to "Restore the Shore" is strong. We hope to put together another weekend later this spring to help with the cleanup.

PV Summer Program is Just Around the Corner

The PV Summer Program kicks off in just over 10 weeks!

The program starts off in June in Wyoming County, WV and then moves up to Brooklyn, NY in August.  If you are planning on joining us this summer, please let us know your dates ASAP and we will put you on the calendar.