greeNest 12.05.2020
QIC: Van Gogh
Date: 12/05/2020
PAX: Starfish, Sour Mash, 60 Minutes (WB), Drama Queen (WD), Van Gogh (QIC)
On November 19th, Starfish sent out an opportunity for #DashStrong to put some of #TheWork discussions and learnings to work and help invigorate the community by putting all 3 Fs into action by volunteering at greeNest, a unique local program that (for a small fee) provides household furnishings to individuals and families transitioning to sustainable housing. Volunteers come to sort, clean and organize furniture and household goods that have been donated by the community and stage them in a “showroom” for participants to make selections from. For a nominal fee, participants, accompanied by caseworkers from various partner agencies, will choose donated items that best suit their needs and preferences, thus providing dignity and prioritization skills. Participants then will become “owners,” not merely “recipients.”
Here’s an intro video: https://www.greenestws.org/video
The Thang:
A call to F3 Winston-Salem PAX was made to either: A) Donate furniture, B) Volunteer and providing loading and unloading labor, C) Providing trucks to move donated furniture to the showroom, or D) Purchase items (like TwinXL bed sets)and have the sent directly to greeNest.
3 Saturdays were selected, 12/5, 12/12, and 12/19 in which we were going to aim for 3 PAX, who can post some time from 9am to 12noon and help the folks at greeNest with their end of year push.
YHC took Q duty for the first weekend, Palin the second, and BAM the third.
Along with YHC and Starfish, 3 other PAX joined in to help! Just after 0915, with 2 trucks, greeNest’s truck, and Starfish’s expedition ready, we set out to 2 locations.. Groups split up, with YHC meeting Sour Mash and 60 minutes in WeFoCo, and DQ and Starfish heading to the Winston location. The trucks worked out perfect, as the 3 couches and storage shelving at the WeFoCo site completely filled up our trucks. DQ and Starfish also filled up their vehicles with the many tables and pieces being donated. Our WeFoCo donor was a triple respect who said he really liked what F3 was up to. After telling him about Nitro, we EHed him a little bit and gave him some website info.
Around 1000, DQ and Starfish got back to greeNest in time to unload, and were perfectly synced and ready for the WeFoCo crew to arrive an unload at 1015. Julia, the floor assistant, was a great help at guiding us with where to put the donations. By 1030, we were done!! It was a quick and easy service to provide.
NMM
Starfish and YHC would like to see these volunteer opportunities continue into 2021. What do yall think about a weekly or monthly slot? We can treat it like any workout from 9-11. PAX signup to Q, and they need to EH volunteers. It took 90 minutes, and greeNest can definitely use the help! Thoughts??
Future volunteer groups should definitely plan to bring at least 3 usable vehicles for hauling. Splitting into groups greatly helped, so YHC would recommend a 4 PAX minimum.
The only rules in place were that furniture should already be on ground level, no hauling up/down stairs. Also, if PAX had to enter homes, donors and volunteers all had to be wearing masks. As a courtesy, volunteers should call donors when on their way so that donors could be wearing masks (which YHC politely reminded them of during the call).
Starfish mentioned greeNest was trying to raise funds to acquire a box truck, that would be a great thing for them to get. If anyone knows where they can get one for cheap, let it be known!
No PAX were injured, all 3 Fs were experienced, and greeNest was made better. What more could you ask for!
Thanks for putting out the call to PAX, Starfish!!
VG
