Service for Project Warm Up: 10-24-15

Colors. Bags and bags of colors. That's what the girls found waiting for them on the tables in the basement of the First Congregational Church. The Bats were in charge of sorting, tagging and bagging hundreds of hand knit hats, scarves, mittens, and blankets for members of our community that seldom receive a handmade item. 

We started our day with a conversation about who we were serving and why, and throughout the day we discussed the needs of the people who receive these hats and scarves. We talked about homelessness in our community and how something like a hand-knit item could make a huge difference in someone's life, warming their body but also their hearts. We had some powerful conversation about why and how people might find themselves in challenging circumstances and how the community (including us) can help; about preconceptions, assumptions and stereotypes; and had a rich conversation about what a safety net is. It was eye-opening for all of us to understand our community's needs, and underlined how full our "cups" are (we all agreed we have substantial safety nets!). The girls also agreed by day's end that in adding some of the surplus from their full cups to others' half-empty cups, their cups actually get more full. It defies physics, but this is the way of service: in giving we receive. 

The bulk of our time was spent working in teams to organize all the items, tagging and bagging each one. We all exclaimed over pumpkin hats and frilly bonnets, intricate scarves, and colorful blankets, and we marveled at the kindness of the knitters who knit hundreds of items to gift to others they'll never meet. We met with the church education coordinator, who shared their plan to convert the basement where we met into temporary housing for homeless teens – the SB girls eagerly volunteered to help prep the space, when funding had been secured. 

GEC spends a lot of service time supporting community safety nets, and Project Warm Up is the first in our service cycle that deals with homelessness in our community. We build on that in coming years with several other powerful projects. 

Our remaining time was spent on some group building activities, working on SB bonds and collaboration. Then the girls went off to connect some more at Pure Bliss desserts!

Here are some of the organizations who will distribute the knitted items to their clients: Brigid Collins, CAST (serving a meal to those on the streets once/week), GRADS Teen Parent Program, Amy's Place (serving homeless teens), Bellingham Coat Drive, YWCA.

Our Words of the Day? Sorting, Sliding, Warming our World!

You may view the slideshow from our shared day here.