It was a Great Day (Day of Service)

The Day of Service event I organized with an amazing team of volunteer leaders, to benefit Operation Gratitude went off beautifully this past Saturday. Around 90 volunteers turned out to over five hours to make 120 paracord survival bracelets, write hundreds of letters and cards, and collect scores of newspaper comics, crossword puzzles, and sudoku puzzles that will be included in care packages that get shipped to U.S. Service Members deployed in hostile regions. The event took place at the Black Contractors Association (BCA) building in the Encanto neighborhood of San Diego.

Here are some photos from the event:

Starting left, going clockwise: Welcome sign greeting volunteers at the door of the BCA; two volunteers braiding paracord survival bracelets; a snapshot of the interior of the BCA during the day; many families brought their kids to attend this event.

All volunteers received a short training on the types of activities in which they could participate and the guidelines for letter-writing.

Kate's first letter for Operation Gratitude (she made a total of three that day) which she dictated to me. I love that she started it with the greeting, "Dear Super Hero...."

All the supplies were donated by generous volunteers. This is what we started with at the beginning of the day. The contributions grew as the day continued and inspired participants towards creativity.

Braiding paracord survival bracelets was a popular activity and also provided community service hours for high school students. We had volunteer trainers (Margret and Belinda) on hand to teach people how to make the bracelets.

Completed paracord bracelets.

Volunteers hard at work!

We've received many inquiries as to whether we will be hosting other community service opportunities and events and the answer is a resounding, "yes!" We expect that our next event will take place in early March, if not sooner.

Many thanks to all the community members who turned out to participate in the event, to the volunteer leaders who helped organize the event, and to the Hameeds for generously allowing us to use the BCA for our event.

See you at the next one!