Barre, VT – June 30 – July 6, 2024

This past week our entire group was the beneficiary of a woman’s “two mites.”  The work crew delivered a box of food to her when they went to work at her house.  She immediately asked if she could give them something to eat.  She had no food except for what was in that box which was provided by enough Ministries, a local church food bank.  She has no car and lives five miles from the nearest grocery store.  She told one of the group members that she had lost 50 pounds because she didn’t have enough food to eat.  The crew completed the necessary work at her place.  When they left she gave everyone a package of ground, frozen venison from a deer her son had killed.  She said she didn’t like venison.  Whether that was true or not, we’ll never know.  But out of her little she gave much.  The cooks grilled venison burgers for supper, and we all shared together in gratitude for her generosity. 

The week’s work by the SYP group from western MD/south central PA consisted of quite a few “small” jobs, jobs that didn’t take a lot of time, but sometimes a lot of effort.  A chimney was repaired so that it no longer leaks, trash was picked up at several places, and a basement floor was scraped to remove old carpet glue.  More French drains were dug to divert water away for several houses.  Ceiling insulation was completed, and house wrap was stapled over the insulation.  Another basement was mucked out and crushed rock was added to the floor.  Furnace, oil tanks, and a water tank were drained, removed and replaced.  An interesting assignment had a volunteer going down about 10 feet into a well, and he successfully removed debris from the well. 

The two “larger”/on-going projects are nearing completion.  Numa’s house had a tub/shower installed and walls were painted.  A neighbor entertained the group by singing an operatic number for them.  At the house that Jack (almost) built, they sanded, mudded, and painted the drywall.  Vinyl flooring was installed, and trim painted and put in.  That job should be completed in another day or two.  

Jack is a year-long MCC volunteer from Kenya working with MDS.  He expressed that he would like for the long term volunteers to accompany him to the airport as he completed his assignment.  There were lots of tears as we said our goodbyes and sent him off with a prayer and our best wishes. 

Lorena Richtarsic, MDS Administrative Assistant, Field Operations, spent several days at the project.  As office manager I certainly learned from her, and she said she learned a lot from her visit with us here.   

Several of the volunteers took a tour of the Granite Museum.  The curator of the museum guided our tour and shared a wealth of information with us about the process of mining and processing granite.  The projects we viewed were quite impressive. 

For the crew from Barre, VT—Herb,  Tim, Edith, Eric, Jack, Rex, Anita, and Sovilla