June 2018: Back for more at Philadelphia Community Corps!
PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY CORPS
Greg Trainor breaking down the day's expectations.
After a little over a year since our first event, we were back at Philadelphia Community Corps ("PCC") this month!
PCC provides career training programs that empower underserved citizens to revitalize blighted neighborhoods by deconstructing vacant buildings and salvaging materials for reuse.
You can also stop by their Reclaim Shop where PCC offers "building materials, antiques, architectural salvage items and secondhand housewares from our deconstructions, from donations and from items swapped into our inventory." It's open to the public seven days a week from 12 to 6 pm.
Greg Trainor started the day by walking us through PCC's mission, and giving us the plan for the day. He told us about their recent progress, expansion, and how the organization's success has led to an incredibly full warehouse. That's where VU comes into play.
Tasks for the day included: Organizing aisles in the warehouse based on type of salvaged item, making items more accessible by moving them to lower shelves, measuring wooden trim and matching pieces together for resale, among many other things!
Some volunteers spent the entire time throwing away trash, sweeping aisles, and piling wood based on shape and size. Some of the salvaged parts were heavy such as porcelain bathtubs and sewing tables, which all had to be moved to their proper location. No workout required after this event!
After a solid day of incredible progress, it was time to regroup and get the rundown of what we accomplished. According to Greg, we were able to do a few months' work in only a few hours! It was only through the exhilarating effort of our volunteers that this feat was possible. A huge thank you to all who came out to support PCC!
The #AFTERJAWN
After taking the warehouse on a trip through time and launching progress ahead, it only made sense we took it easy on any further travel and went just outside the warehouse for the afterjawn festivities.
We setup a pop-up tent, a folding table, and BYO'd our beverage donations from Fat Head's Brewery, Austin Eastciders, and Left Hand Brewing! The volunteers worked hard, and deserved some free beer from these amazing donors! We also ordered a few pies from City View Pizza and Grill to refuel after burning through some serious energy in the warehouse.
It was a fun afternoon in the sun as the projected storms held off. As we chowed down on some 'za and drank our cold brews & ciders, we played frisbee and cornhole. Between the games, basking in the sun, and petting Greg's dog, this #afterjawn was one for the books and one we won't soon forget!
Thank you again to all our awesome volunteers and the fantastic organizations that keep us running! See you next month for our One Year Anniversary Party! Make sure to sign up on our site!