by Amelia Hogue, Cos junior

On September 6th, sixteen of LCCTC’S finest participated in yet another United Way: United Day of Caring field trip.

To ensure the volunteers had the energy for a hard day’s work, breakfast awaited the participants and organizers, and we all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. To kick off the day and provide a little motivation for the day, speakers shared words of encouragement and thanks for all who gave of their time on this nation-wide event.

One of the perks of the event -- t-shirts! Though free to us, but there were local businesses and union affiliations who sponsored this event; much thanks goes to the following establishments: Service Employees International Union, Greenville Savings Bank, Columbia Gas, The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Central Labor Council of Beaver and Lawrence Counties, and The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

After we finished nourishing our bellies and our hearts, we were ready to start the day. Piling into the school vans, we headed off to Camp Agawam.

Once there, we split into two groups and completed different tasks. My group included Szofia Miller, Corrin Clouston, Candace Hammond, Anna Williams, Riley Leonard, Sierra Knight, Kasiah Gilmore, and Josephine Beiter; group one stayed toward the front of the camp to pull weeds and clean up the flowers. We may have gotten jabbed a few times from thorn bushes, but it was all worth it in the end; the end result looked awesome! The second group included Julia Williams, Nick Neupauer, Rich Nesbit, Tabatha Zang, Katie Dillen, Aaron Dilling and Trenton Yale. Their task: to close the pool.

Even though the day started with a heavy dose of sun, it didn’t last. We got caught in the rain; well -- that’s not the best description; our happy volunteers got caught in a downpour. To escape the “cats and dogs” outside, we rushed to the dining hall. After much laughter and attempts to dry off, we still managed to accomplish a lot: we wiped windows, killed spiders, swept floors, and dusted tables.

The rain brought the humidity and the air was thick. Julia Williams, HA senior remembers, “It was a long, rainy day, but in the end, we all came together to finish strong.”

It was a great first event to kick off the year for Peer Leadership President Nick Neupauer, GO junior. He proudly said, “The day at Camp Agawam involved teamwork and bonding experiences for Peer Leaders, old and new.” Bonding through hands-on experience is what brings this group together!

In all, we traveled to four campsites to move wet, dirty palettes. Because they were heavy, we all had to work in sync to move them, and unite as a group to finish strong. When we picked up one of the pallets we found a little snake. One of the new Peer Leaders, Corrin Clouston, HA sophomore recalls with a nervous smile, “It was a great first trip, but I could have done without that snake!” Petrified of finding another snake, Corrin stayed away from the palettes; nobody blamed her.

Although we were exhausted, soaked and dripping sweat, we can all say that it was an exhausting but memory-making day. When we got back to the school we all shared stories of our different experiences and laughed it all off; that’s what Peer Leadership is about.

The United Way: Day of Caring was great kick off to the year and a wonderful prelude of what 2018-19 is going to bring.