The afternoon of Thursday, May 30, students gathered at Corrymeela’s garden after lunch to complete their first service project. We were led in our volunteer work by Eleanor, a very kind affiliate of the Corrymeela from the local community, who helped distribute jobs.
While some of us had been able to pack old clothes for our painting project, many did not have the appropriate attire for cold weather or for painting. Many of us wore trash bags to help protect our clothing. We enjoyed styling our trash bags in multiple ways to best meet our needs–and to look fancy. Some designs proved more effective than others.
Rolando and Brenton sporting their functional and fashionable trash bags.
From left: Lindsey, Hannah, and Magaly
Liam and Brenton
Six of us helped to paint benches in Corrymeela’s garden, and the remaining four worked to apply additional coats of paint to the tool shed. In addition to their rather fashionable trash bag cover ups, Corrymeela also provided us with paint and an assortment of brushes to complete the task.
From left: Madeleine, Friesen, Eleanor
In order to protect the bricks and stones underneath the benches, we laid down tarp before beginning work. We found that despite the cold temperatures, we were able to stay warm and pass the time thanks to the awesome summer music playlists of Lindsey and Brenton.
From left: Magaly, Kiara, Hannah, and Lydia
Two hours and a few paint splatters later, we finished our very first volunteer project here at Corrymeela. After vigorously scrubbing our hands and clothes to clean up, we finished the day with naps, “biscuits” (cookies), and an opportunity to reflect on our service.
–Hannah Sweitzer and Magaly Cazabal Gonzalez
