Most of the good ideas from our program have come from our inside – or formerly inside – leaders. This time the idea came from Shawn, who graduated with his BA from the UO while still inside and then went on to complete a master’s degree at the UO once he was released. He is working with us to develop more informal re-entry support efforts, and at his suggestion we invited folks to join us for a volunteer day at FOOD for Lane County’s Garden for Good on Saturday, November 25th–taking advantage of the Thanksgiving weekend to do some giving back to the community. PEP team members, formerly Inside students, and friends and family came to participate.
We spent two hours mulching the garden beds for winter, taking on mountains of leaves that will discourage weeds, protect the soil from run-off, and partially compost during the cold months. One member of our team’s step counter calculated 2.9 miles of hauling leaves in wheelbarrows during the morning’s work session.
Not only was it a chance to be part of our community in a different way, it was also a nice way to spend time together. Community is built in many different ways, and while classroom discussions are a specialty this was a nice change of pace. We plan to repeat the experience at least once a quarter, so look forward to more news from community projects in future newsletters!