For the first time in several years, our trip down was mercifully uneventful. Dinner at the King Buffet — cheap and plentiful — took the pressure off dinner prep so we had a couple of hours to settle in, choose our bunks, reunite with our friends from Newtown and, for at least one of us, take a much-needed nap.

This morning we had our usual meeting with Craig to learn about what’s been happening here.  He reported that, with 70 projects on the books, they have had to stop taking requests. Plenty of volunteers are available, but there is simply not enough money to fund them.  They’d like to take half a dozen more a month, but need more staff to support the effort.

We’re split between two projects to begin. The major one is right around the corner and involves repairs associated with termite damage and roof leakage. Already on day 1 some folks have picked up new skills, and Jim reports that 99% of the sheathing was completed.

 

A smaller group was deployed to another site, in Gulfport, but their start was delayed waiting for tools and supplies (hence Patience Monday). As you can see from the photos, we had a lovely day  to work outside — mid-60s and sunny.

Katharyn and Sharon C spent a few hours organizing the campus food pantry and helping clients shop. Since the pantry had been closed since a couple of days before Christmas, clients were grateful to be able to replenish their own food stores.

Meanwhile, the cooks deployed on their own mission to secure provisions for this hungry army. It’s always amazing to see how quickly this group plows through food! Two overflowing shopping carts later, we reflected that we’ll be doing this again tomorrow!

It’s still early, and we haven’t had our hot fudge sundaes yet, but there are five raucous games going on, while several folks are trying to read. That’s all for now, I have to play cribbage!