William Byrd Community House

Of all my three service opportunities, the latest was definitely my favorite. Our volunteer work this time was working at the William Byrd Community House in around their community garden. The William Byrd Community House is an organization whose aim is to build self-sufficiency through their 4 main focuses; children services, young adult services, family support, and education.

Our job was to help with the construction of a walkway that will be along a garden that will have edible plants, help prepare for the construction of a gazebo for the walkway, in addition to mulching, weeding, composting and other activities.

It sounds like a lot, and it was. It was in fact my longest volunteer service this year. However I think it went by the quickest. The work was fun and reminded me of doing yard work back home. It was something I was used to and I didn’t need to rely on other people to be effective, which was what bothered me about the tabling service I did.

However easy it was, I really felt like I was making an impact. With tabling it was hard to make an impact on the second floor of the theatre where people rarely came. Also with the island pick-up we were picking up trash for the homeless people to keep the island clean. I found mixed feelings about that as I felt I was helping and encouraging people who weren’t supposed to be there. This project however was for people. The work on the gardens will help the people who rent the community gardens grow food. Also the walkway will augment the food pantry William Byrd has so that families will get vegetables in addition to canned goods. Though we didn’t help out with this, the house also has a separate farm where they grow vegetables sold in farmer’s markets where food stamps can be used to buy fresh produce.

Working here I felt like I was making a huge impact which is why on a not so busy Friday I hope to go back and help. You should come too. It’s at 224 South Cherry Street in Oregon Hill Richmond, VA.