A lot of wood. That’s how one volunteer described today’s rehab work day at the commUnity center. However accurate, that simple sentence understates the work performed by volunteers who came to help further our Rainbow Rehab efforts. More accurate, would be to say “A lot of WORK.”
In all, several hundred boards (delivered today) were all relocated by volunteers to the ballroom to get ready for the framing of walls in that area. Over the coming weeks & months, these walls will begin to go up, starting to create the many new spaces that we will eventually have available upstairs.
Today, volunteers also cleaned, organized, scraped paint off of windows, installed a power outlet, & more. In total this week, volunteers made significant progress with our new emergency exit in the meeting room & started the installation of the beautiful trim in the restrooms. The emergency exit will be finished within the next couple of weeks & provides a critical (additional) exit from the room in case of a major fire at the front of the building.
This wraps up a huge month of volunteer rehab efforts. Earlier work days had volunteers sanding & staining trim to prep it for installation. Our dedicated volunteers also installed cabinetry & lights in the restrooms & beverage station.
At least 20 people helped with the efforts this month. To say we started off 2021 with a strong start is an understatement. We are excited to move forward into February, where we have two rehab work days planned (on the 13th & 27th). Some volunteers come on “off” days to work on the rehab alone or in smaller groups.
In addition to the volunteer work, some progress was also made with the work being performed by contractors, although that’s been slower than we hoped for. We anticipate that February will bring further progress there, as two additional contractors will be taking on projects on the second floor.
We are tremendously grateful for the dedication of our volunteers, who are passionate about helping us succeed in this massive project at the commUnity center. Without their endless support, we would not have the commUnity center at all, much less to be rehabilitating it to increase our capacity for further programming.
Anyone interested in joining our volunteer efforts can apply today at www.SpencerPride.org/volunteers. For more information about the Rainbow Rehab effort, contact Jonathan at Jonathan@SpencerPride.org.