We are very excited about our upcoming trip down to Disney with our family. Well, Craig and I are very excited. The kids have no idea that the trip is on the horizon. It's been interesting to try and plan the trip and work with my parents, sister and brother-in-law (who are all going) without them picking up on anything. I have to say that sometimes I am blessed with oblivious children.
One of the ways we are trying to bring the price of the weekend down is by looking for (and taking advantage of) any deals we can find. Well, we found the Give A Day, Get A Day program. The gist is that if you volunteer with one of the selected organizations, then you are given one free day at a Disney park. We were all over that one. After searching for an organization and volunteer event that wasn't full and would allow Trinity to work with us, we found one! We signed up to work at the Martin Luther King Day Of Service in Athens. We selected to work at a site that would be preparing a community garden for their spring planting. It sounded like a perfect match for us. We loaded up quite a bit of Craig's equipment and headed out.
The garden when we arrived
Unfortunately, some type of stomach bug hit me that morning on the way over. I slept in the car until the work day started. Thankfully, I was well enough to work most of the morning, but I did have to take a few breaks. Not fun for me. However, Trinity and Craig were quite the troupers.
Before the work began, the work leader told us the story of the community garden. It had such a personal touch to her since she grew up in the neighborhood and her aunt still lives on the street. She told us how the area was infested with drugs and how the area that now holds the garden used to be the spot where "the candy house" stood. She told us how the community came together to work with the local government to clean up the area. It was a great opportunity to hear the history of the garden.
We cleaned out planting beds, We got rid of all the old growth. Craig cleared a large section of growth behind the garden. Trinity planted some flowers in one of the beds with some of the other children. She even took time to take water bottles to all the workers. It was a great chance to serve and give a little something to this special community.
We cleaned out planting beds, We got rid of all the old growth. Craig cleared a large section of growth behind the garden. Trinity planted some flowers in one of the beds with some of the other children. She even took time to take water bottles to all the workers. It was a great chance to serve and give a little something to this special community.
As we were driving down (with Trinity deep into her video game with her headphones on), Craig and I talked about how we would respond if there was a lot of publicity about the free Disney day. We decided that we would just play it by ear and see what her response was to any Disney talk. Well, there was talk and she just looked at us. She said, "So some people get to go to Disney for working here?" We said, "Yes." She thought for a moment and then simply said, "Oh. Okay." and went on working. It was good to see her working just to help out others, not because she knew she would be rewarded for it.
The finished garden - ready for the locals to plant in a few months
Here we are with the project leader (in the black jacket and hat) and some of the neighborhood residents
Trinity in front of the flower bed that she worked on
What a great morning!!
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