First week went great! I’ve been able to work on my house, volunteer at On The Way Home Ministries, make a map of Lawn for STC, and mow my parents lawn.
I started off on Monday getting my house back into reasonable shape. Which meant I had to take down my Christmas decorations (I wish I joking). It was just my Christmas village and actually puttting the boxes into storage.
Tuesday was my first day working at OWHM. I hadn’t ever been inside the building though I passed it every day coming to and from work. It’s a house that they converted into a food pantry. Diane Walker started the food pantry several years ago. Unlike a lot of pantries, we allow them to go through our “store” and choose for themselves what they want instead of just handing them a prepacked box. We also give out household toiletries as well. We give out laundry soap (we use the individual pods and put them in bags of 10) and dishwashing soap (we use little water bottles that hold about a cup). Most of our donations come from Market Street, local churches, and private donations. I’ll post pictures of what the inside looks like next week. We try to keep everything rotated and have boxes set aside of our most commonly donated items that aren’t due to expire for a few years. If we get in a lot of one item, we trade with other food pantries for items that we need. A couple of boxes of cans for a package of toilet paper- that sort of trade.
I also used the week to create a new map of Lawn for Lawn Baptist Church for STC(south Taylor County) cleanup. The map they currently use was made over 10 years ago and only had Lawn streets and the cleanup areas marked. This time I used google maps satellite images and was able to go through and mark the house numbers in each of the 19 areas that we have set up. This should help out our drivers find houses that say they have loads to pick up.
Wednesday I worked on my map and went to my bible study. I’ve been going to a bible study by Priscilla Shire called ‘Full Armor of God’ for over a month now. It’s done through Lawn Baptist Church which means I’ve gotten the chance to get to know several of the ladies at that church. A few I’ve known for a while and others I’ve only met through this bible study.
Thursday I worked on my lawn mower and worked at OTWH again. Last week the spark plug went out. By ‘went out’ I mean when I tried to start it for round two, I heard a pop and the spark plug shot about 3 feet away. So I figured I needed a new one (For the record I was right, it works great now).
Thursday at OTWH was a little more busy than Tuesday, and I was able to meet Emma for the first time. She should be there on Tuesday helping out again. We worked on putting items up that we had received earlier and helping anyone that came in. One thing that strikes me about those that come in is the variety. I expected it to mostly be older people but we have seen all sorts come in. Everything from single moms to the elderly to those struggling to make ends meet or those that are sick or have someone in the household that is sick. The food pantry doesn’t just do those in Lawn but also those in the surrounding towns like Novice, Greensboro, Tuscola, and a few from Abilene. We don’t limit the number of times that they can come and at first that took me back. But after seeing how those that use the pantry act, I can see that there is little worry of it being abused. They take only what they need till their next trip. Some come once a week, others once a month. The only thing we really limit is the meat that we hand out. That is based off of how many is the family.
Today I ended my week by mowing my parents property. They live on a couple of acres so this is no small task. I had to get the lawn mower started first. Which meant I had to remove the jumper cables attached to the battery, air up 3 out of four tires(try and fail to start the lawn mower), blow out the air filter, check the oil, add more oil, add more gas, and finally try the engine (again). This time it started, but it needed to run a minute or two before I could try the blades. Used this time to air the back tire I didn’t air up the first time (freak slightly at the wasp nest that was built on the rim next to the valve stem) and finally we mow!! Finished after 6 hrs and went back home to nap.