Service Above Self: York County Rotarians Assemble to Assemble
Individual members of several York County Rotary Clubs showed up early Friday morning for a combined club service project to unbox and then assemble a shipment of metal beds to be used at the new soon-to-be open Bell Family Shelter.
After a quick introduction by Bell’s director of community engagement, Averie Clark, the first group of volunteers set to work unpacking boxes and figuring out the instructions to build the beds. Clark, who is also president of the Uptown York Rotary Club, said it meant a lot to see Rotarians from clubs across York County come together for the project. “We club presidents have been meeting regularly since our terms began in July 2023, and one of our regular topics of discussion has been developing collaborative service projects.”
Two shifts of volunteers showed up for the morning’s project and worked around freshly-painted walls (and a few painters working on touch up), assembling sets of bunk beds and single beds, which were outfitted with mattresses and placed in rooms that soon will be open to welcome unhoused York County families in crisis.
The crews worked so efficiently they finished up the project in their allotted time, thereby leaving no work for volunteers who signed up to help on Saturday. Don’t worry, folks, there will be more opportunities to help as we get closer to a move-in date in April.
“A big thank you to all of the Rotarians and other volunteers who signed up to help with the project;” Clark said, “It’s great to have community members be a part of the positive impact that will come from this new space.”
A HUGE shout out, as well, to the York County Community Foundation, for funding the purchase of these beds – as well as laundry equipment, etc. to accommodate the increased capacity of the new Bell Family Shelter. The grant was made through the Foundation’s Mabel L. Slifer Fund for People in Need.
Stay tuned for more information and opportunities to help as the new Bell Family Shelter project and fundraising campaign unfold.