Gresham Outlook Features Return Serve

The Gresham Outlook has a story on Return Serve! Read the awkward scanned copy or read it online.

Thanks!

Tidying for the Creative Genius

Saturday, August 15 we worked at New Avenues for Youth (NAFY). NAFY has a beautiful facility in Downtown Portland where homeless and at-risk young people can come, be safe, have some food, play some games and do some laundry. They can also make art! NAFY has a lot of supplies (Some of which were gathered by Return Serve members and friends in May and April of this year!) but staff has no time to put them where they go. The art room has nice cabinets and counter space and just needed a bit of T.L.C. The story was similar in the clothing closet. Shannon, Nadine and Emily took the art room and Bryan and Michael (Visiting Portland from California!) tidied the closet. In a few hours, both rooms were looking good and we were getting excited about the next art projects that might take place in the space. Knitting? Screen printing? Water color? Photography? The supplies are all there! The kids using the drop-in center even gave us a very sweet round of applause as we left.

Let the Worms Breathe!

Saturday, August 8 was a big day for us. We worked with Depave! The task: rip up 15,000 square feet of asphalt with the brute strength of nearly 100 volunteers and a few tools. Sounds crazy I know, but it was a ton of fun. The feelings of power you have while overturning concrete that has lay behind an elementary school for 80 years are pretty significant. Portland Mayor Sam Adams joined in the fun and Shannon and I were mentioned in the Oregonian story that came out the next day!

It turns out that the Depave folks were bringing in the backhoes later to finish what we started, but we estimated that with just our hands and determination, the volunteers took care of 5,000 square feet of the total. Think of all those people who have a new appreciation for "Freeing the Soil". The kids and teachers and parents at Vestal Elementary School will work to put in a new learning lab and the remainder of the space will become a Portland Community Garden. Storm-water will drain keeping the pollution out of the streams and rivers and the neighborhood will gain a significant new community space.

We had some friends staying with us from California so that's our second time with some long distance help with one of our projects. Cheers to Katie and Kenny for rolling up their sleeves and getting dirty with some concrete bashing Portlanders!

It's Raining Softballs

Saturday, July 13 we headed to Gresham High School for the Hershey Track and Field Games. Hershey has funded these games all over the country for over 30 years as a way to promote fitness in kids ages 9-14. Gresham Parks and Recreation organized the event for Gresham kids and Return Serve volunteers were there to help with registration, record event results, chase after runaway softballs and to cheer on the participants. The day was cloudy and cold and there were not many kids who came to play, but the fun news is that most of those who did were able to place for the regional games in Salem! It's good for everyone to get out and run around a bit, and it's great for the City of Gresham to keep looking for ways to have more programming for not a lot more money. The Games definitely accomplished both.