A short post for a long week! We are at Union College, in Lincoln, Nebraska. Maranatha Volunteers International is using volunteers to completely refurbish 34 rooms in Rees Women’s residence; the girls’ dorm. Built in 1958, with an addition in 1965, the rooms are ripe for refreshing! We are only doing a small percentage of the rooms, but there will be more projects in the future to cover the whole building.
I got to the college a few days early, and was privileged to help set up for the project. Director David has basically built a factory in the campus maintenance buildings, to create 68 cabinets, 340 drawers, and 34 bookshelf units. A massive undertaking to be accomplished in three weeks, and done by volunteer labor!
So I feel like I’ve spent every waking hour in the cabinet shop… and that’s not too great an exaggeration! Meanwhile, other teams are tearing apart the dorm rooms- removing built-in desk cabinets and bookshelves, repairing walls, and tuning up A/C units. The walls will be repaired and painted, lighting and electrical fixtures updated, new flooring placed, and then our newly created desk cabinets and new countertops will be installed.
Another group of special people are aiding the cafeteria staff preparing food for this whole team. Cherryl is working in the kitchen to make sure we all have plenty of good food to keep our energy up!
Not sure who this guy with the wild thinning hair is, but I see him in the mirror a lot…
Lots of lumber turning into cabinets!
Some have been stained, and will soon be lacquered.
Jerry, one of the great workers on the cabinet team, said he bleeds too easily- his blood thinners make him bleed whenever he is bumped or scraped… and he did that a lot. So I got him a remedy he could try out…
We decided we should sign one of the cabinets, so if the world (or the dorm) lasts for another several decades, when they refurbish the rooms again they will find our scrawlings and the date… a sort of time capsule.
So I have no pictures of the demolition of the 34 dorm rooms, but the college has had some photographers around, and they put together the following video:
Beautiful work and willing hearts!! I worked for Maranatha for almost nine years after I left Dental and Oral Surgery. They do amazing things. You will want to come to Sacramento in the fall for the convention. I didn’t do any state-side projects, but 14 church and large school projects in foreign countries. I met a lot of wonderful people and saw many exciting things! Have fun!!
Knowing how much you did with Maranatha was a part of our decision to volunteer. You are an inspiration in many ways! Thank you!