Inspiring, rewarding, wet. No other descriptors could quite do justice for these spring-breakers first day of service. When our nutritious breakfast of not-so-obviously generic cereal was interjected by a church goer, Mrs. Donna, I don't think we could have prepared for how the day would play out. Mrs. Donna, a volunteer coordinator at Highland and a very smart woman suggested that we being our day with coffee, and even brewed us a fresh container of the caffeinated beverage.
We were introduced to Mr. Cullen - a church member, gardener extraordinaire, and my new personal hero. Mr. Cullen has worked his whole like as an agriculture expert and educator in the community. A few years ago, he began the community garden at Highland Methodist Church, and today, his work has spread throughout the country and even into Germany. His forest "swagger" and passion awed our group of volunteers. As an agriculture major myself, I was quite struck by his wealth of experience and his work has inspired me to keep striving to do what I love and I feel that I will come to learn a great deal from this individual. Enough about me though... When Mr. Cullen lead us to the church's community garden, we stuck it in top gear. Some of the group dedicated their time to bamboo harvesting, while others were tasked with mixing soil or resurrecting a garden bed to its former glory. There was not a person who, had it not gotten progressively cooler through the day, would not have broken a sweat, and I don't think there's a person who would trade that experience for much else.
Our afternoon was filled with an equally inspiring, and yet difficult adventure at Neighbor to Neighbor. The group, ready for work in a larger garden than we had experienced in the morning, had an air of confusion about them when we arrived at Neighbor2Nieghbor. A patch of dirt littered crabgrass roots filled the space beside the parking lot. Neighbor2Neighbor is a nonprofit in Raliegh that always seemed to one up our expectations. As he explained that they offer housing to families, I thought that would be the limit of their aid, but as Royce, the leader of the organization, continued to explain the goals, I learned that they provide schooling, food, recreation, career exploration, and even have a program to sell solar panels to developing countries.
The mission, that we accepted despite near freezing temperatures and a rainy forecast, was to remove the roots from the soil. I won't lie, the work itself was difficult and there wasn't much to it. But what I can say is that something more important grew out of that soil, kinship. About three hours into our journey, Rocky Top could be heard throughout the downtown , Raleigh neighborhood. This group of 15 people who had met the day before had somehow become one unit working in the dirt. For others, it was even more rewarding. The chance to feel as though you're making a difference or to just get down and dirty is sometimes a rare opportunity for some members of the group. You can call us crazy, degenerates of a self-interested society, or just people that would trade the chance to tan on a beach for the chance to play in the mud, but we won't care because we love it.
The stresses of the day are quite apparent by the time of posting of this blog. As the group turned in early, I too was far too tired to stay awake.
-Zach Brown
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