Red Lake, MN – August 6-12, 2023

On Sunday afternoon, our volunteers for the week began to arrive – one man from Minnesota and a group of nine adults and 11 children, ages 2-12, from Kansas.  It has been a different atmosphere with children in the building!  The older children accompanied their parents on the worksites and were happy to paint and tear off siding.

Technicians continued installation of the HVAC system at the volunteer center throughout the week, the electricians worked inside the building on Wednesday, and Friday and Saturday, a technician was here to install the sprinkler heads.  On two different days, the work at clients’ homes was delayed or stopped early due to rain.  On Thursday evening and Friday afternoon, the volunteers finished installing the ceiling tiles in the entire volunteer center.  Many hours were spent wiping and vacuuming up dust created by the work on the ceiling.  Despite all the things that were changes to our normal routine, work was accomplished on six different clients’ homes, two jobs were completed, and one new job card was signed.  On Friday evening, the young families and several of the long-term staff attended the Red Lake powwow held here in town.

Painting, installation of siding, and clean up was finished at house #14.    Work was resumed on houses #15 and #16 as backordered windows were delivered.  Following installation of the windows, volunteers were able to add window trim, paint, and complete siding.  Work has continued at house #17 – including installing more house wrap, siding, painting, and installation of new trim boards.  Volunteers prepared to begin work on house #18 by removing old siding, spraying wasps, and trimming weeds.   Project Director Dave was kept busy with picking up supplies in Bemidji, hauling trash to the dump, moving scaffolding, and working on the lights here at the volunteer center.  He also spent many hours working on the lights at the volunteer center.

The children who were able to participate on the work sites with their parents, worked hard and were very invested in the work.  We hope their memories of this experience will encourage them to volunteer again as youth and adults.

Ruth for the Red Lake Volunteers