Day of Service

Today was a good day. My team woke up early and headed to our site to prepare for our community day of service.

Michelle was in charge of the day and has been working hard on logistics all week. She prepared the team and everyone knew their roles for the day. All I had to do was schmooze and show of my amazing CMs. I was so proud of the whole team and their leadership. Our Unit Leader and the Regional Director came up for the day which was great for my five Corps Members applying to be Team Leaders next year!

We couldn't build the barn due to slippery weather. Luckily, we quickly put together another plan. We worked on clearing the land for the animals to graze and built raised flower beds out of reclaimed wood from two sheds we tore down earlier in the week. We led about 15 volunteers and the 20 foster boys from Southern Foundation. The day was incredibly successful.

I don't have much time to write but see below news stories about us:

http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=4626

front page of the leading Columbus News Paper

http://titancast.titantv.com/p/wcbi/v/WCBI-News--6-Part-1-13010/12GI1NLT.aspx

Check out Minute 6:30 for the story about our day! (I promise there was much better footage of me, I think she picked the part of the interview I sounded the worst in...)

Anna's Surprise

Hello All

BUSY BUSY week. There is a lot going on here in Sturgis this week. On Tuesday a new CM, Jake, joined our team. So far things have been going really well. We had a party with Lindsey's famous cookies and spent the night giggling about how ridiculous we all are (as usual). The team seems to be doing well with the transition.

In much busier news, we are putting on a big day of service this Saturday for the Southern Foundation. We are expecting to host about 60 people for our barn raising. A few people will help us build a barn, but most will be helping with land clearing to create space for the new animals the foundation will be getting later. The day of service will raise awareness about SFHC's organic farming initiative and AmeriCorps*NCCC's projects with the foundation. Michelle is in charge of the day and is doing an exceptional job. The plans started out small and quickly escalated. The pressure is on for my five corps members applying for team leader with staff members (including both Unit Leaders and the Regional Director) making the 3 hour trip to see us. i can't wait!

Well back to work. miss you all!!!

Casey

" Did you take the collar off the dog?" "I Don't Know..."

Hi from Sturgis, Mississippi.

My team is a couple weeks into our third project. We are loving life! We live in a big house next door to the foster boys' home with plenty of green space to play in. We all have rooms to share, but have been spending most nights having slumber parties in the living room. This is the closest and happiest my team has been so far and I am loving it. We are enjoying our new sponsor who welcomed us with open arms. Mama Gwen took care of feeding us the first week we arrived and we ate some great southern comfort food.

We are working 6 days a week, but morale hasn't taken a hit because the work is fun and there is a great deal of variation. So far we have cleared 1 acre of forest, removed 2000 square feet of trash, torn down one and a half sheds, built 7 raised flower beds with salvaged materials, and spent a half day loading a truck and organizing clothes for the salvation army. Now we are preparing for the community barn raising on Saturday. It feels good to get so much labor done after surveying last SPIKE.

The work we are doing for Southern Foundation for Homeless Children is helping them move towards their organic farming goal. After the land is prepped and the barn is built, the foundation will get cows and goats for the boys to tend to. The idea is to make the foundation more self-sustaining (organic vegetables, milk, eggs and meat) and teach the boys a life skill.

We have quite a bit of autonomy here as well as a great deal of support. Everything seems to be going well. I hope we can keep the momentum going.

In other news, we have a new corps member joining our team tomorrow. Jake has been on a few different teams but hasn't yet found a place for himself, so we are hoping he finds a good "family" in us. Katie will drive him up here tomorrow afternoon. I am welcoming the challenge of a new teammate.

I am also looking forward to meeting ujp with my team leader friends for Mardi Gras in February. We are staying in Mary-Molly's Aunt's house which means a fun affordable vacation from team leading. I am counting down the days...

As always there is so much more to say, but I have work to do tonight, so take care and I miss you all!

Love,

Casey

M.I.A.

Sorry to everyone who has been trying to reach me. I have been busy as usual, but that's no great excuse. Round two in Greenwood wrapped up neatly, we said our goodbyes and headed back to campus. We spent one day on campus scrambling to finish our portfolio and our debriefing meeting. On Saturday the majority of the team headed home for break. I arrived in Cleveland late in the evening after switching flights around due to the snow storm hitting the east coast. Many of my teammates and friends were stranded in airports for hours and days. I was lucky to make it home so fast.

I had a wonderful week and a half at home visiting family and friends. I had a great time just being a person, not a team leader. Christmas was perfect. I am missing everyone from home now.

On New Years I headed to Minneapolis to meet up with Jordan for his cousin's wedding on the 1st. I had fun meeting his family and learning how to polka! I really liked the city (except that it was like -10 degrees and windy).

Saturday we headed back to campus for a week and a half of transition and training. We focused on the life and leadership of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose story is compelling, of course.

VOLUNTEER ON MLK DAY!! (Jan. 18th)

make it "a day on not a day off" http://www.mlkday.gov/

Now I am preparing to depart for SPIKE three tomorrow morning. The team is headed off to Sturgis, MS ( population 188) to work with the Southern Foundation for Homeless Children http://www.sfhchomes.webs.com/

Well I am stressing out about packing and travelling, so that's all for now.

I have no idea what our internet accessibility will be for the next two months, but I will do my best to keep you updated!

Peace,

Casey