Cincinnati's Finest

St. Vivian Church of Cincinnati, OH, has been a faithful supporter of HisHands2Go since... hmmm... well it seems like forever!  St. Vivian has given countless man hours of labor, financial donations, joy and laughter on and off the job, and encouragement and hope for those they have assisted.  They recently sent their youth (along with two lovely chaperones :) to further the work that teams before them have started.  They came, they saw, and they CONQUERED!

The first job they tackled was to finish painting Ms. Denise's home- those lovely bright yellow and green colors that Little Prairie Church first slapped on the house.  Work on the house was done by Lake Zurich Jazz group... boy did they do a great job!  Then Little Prairie Church started the painting process and made great progress.  Finally, St. Vivian finished up the painting for Ms. Denise and it looks GREAT!  One thing about this city that I really love is the various colors of houses- anything goes here- esp bright colors!

The other job that the St. Viv crew worked on is that of Mr. Earl's home.  The tile has been laid, the paint scraped, the walls repainted, and the hard wood floors scrubbed and ready for sanding and buffing.  The house looks fantastic!  The three volunteer teams again collaborated (though working at different times) to conquer this large job.  Lake Zurich Jazz group first, then Little Prairie Church, and finished up by St. Vivian Church.
Great job everyone!

Little Church on the Prairie

Well ok, it's actually called Little Prairie Church, but the name made me think of the old tv show with Half-Pint.  So there's this small town by the name of Albion located in Illinois. This particular region in Illinois is known for pig farms and PORK BURGERS! The volunteers of Little Prairie Church in Albion joined us in June 2012, and brought with them hard work, hilarious stories, PORK BURGERS, and my friend Aaron McCaleb- the team leader.
This crew continued the painting job on Ms. Denise's home- a beautiful combination of bright yellow with bright green trim. They also continued the work on Mr. Earl's home- laying tile, scraping and applying fresh paint, scrubbing wood floors, and conquering whatever tasks they could during their work week.
One of the highlights of their week was the development of a dance known as "the Ragan".  If ever you meet these fine folks you simply must learn the dance, and you MUST wear a feather mask while doing it!
Thanks for a great week Little Prairie Church!

All that Jazz

In the words of New Orleans' very own Steamboat Willie, "Summerti-----me, and the livin' is easy----".  Well many residents and visitors of New Orleans would say so, but the Lake Zurich HS Jazz group might be singing a different tune, or at least different lyrics!  This jazzy team braved the heat and rain to gain a variety of experiences in New Orleans during their visit the second week of June.

The week here began with their performance in Jackson Square (way cool!), followed by tours of the swamp, areas of the city affected mostly by Katrina, and the French Quarter.  In addition to the tours, they took a ride on the Natchez Steamboat, where their band director played a few songs with the house band.  Needless to say that steamboat had never seen such an enthusiastic audience before!

The other aspect of their trip was to work work work!  The crew spent four days pouring their efforts into restoring the homes of New Orleans residents.

They painted

 They laid tile 

 They used big saws and power tools! 

But the most exciting job that they accomplished from HH2G's perspective is the irrigation trenches that they dug for Garden on Marais!  

To top off their awesome week in New Orleans, we contacted our musician friend Steamboat Willie (many of you may remember him).  Steamboat is located in a nice little cafe off of Bourbon St. in the French Quarter.  He leads a jazz ensemble and invited some of the young jazz students to accompany his band one evening.  These brave students did an amazing job playing along with the band, and even performing their own improv solos!  We are so proud of them aaaaaand sort of turned into a slightly less annoying version of the paparazzi.

Attention Lake Zurich crew:   

We expect autographs next time we see you guys!  

Lili from Down Under

Ladies and Gentlemen,
allow me to introduce to you Lili Krins, volunteer from Australia.  She most definitely wins the award for coming the furthest to volunteer with HisHands2Go!
Most of Lili's time with HisHands2Go has been spent working at Garden on Marais with Kayla Miller.  For those who may not know, Garden on Marais is a neighborhood project of Elan Ministries- Kayla is the director of the Garden.  Lili assisted Kayla in planting and building a worm bin, among other tasks.
Below are pictures of the work Lili and Kayla accomplished during Lili's stay with us.  (Lili is the blonde woman).

summa summa Summer Time 

- time to kick back

and unwind...      extension chords and wires! 

and play in the sun...      while repairing a roof! 

and play in the sand...      welllll, at least drywall dust.

  

and take a vacation...      

to come down to New Orleans and 

work with HisHands2Go for an unforgettable week of 

renovation and restoration! 

There are still weeks available for volunteers to schedule a trip in SUMMER 2012

We host individual volunteers as well as teams of volunteers. 

It's truly an amazing experience to touch lives 
by getting your hands dirty... 

so you should DEFINITELY come on down! 

We look forward to serving you as you serve others. 

See you soon!

ALABAMA AID- HANDS ON

The staff of HisHands2Go ventured up to Hackleburg, AL, last week (5/23 - 5/27) to assist in the relief efforts.  The devastation in Alabama resulted from a powerful tornado ripping through the town of Hackleburg and it's outlying areas.  Homes were left in shambles- most resembling toothpicks tossed in piles by the roadside just waiting to be picked up and taken to the dump.  The folks of Hackleburg found themselves without home, several without cars, without the convenience of a grocery store, and the burden of cleaning up the overwhelming mess.

After awful events- most often natural disasters- an amazing thing happens... people of all ages, races, and ethnicity pull together.  They now have something in common and work together to clean up the mess, rebuild their homes, and care for each other by providing food, drink, and encouraging words.  Food tents were set up all around the devastated area.  We actually went to one for lunch everyday.  Portalettes were easy to find, and construction workers drove tractors, skid loaders, and other vehicles around the town offering assistance where it is needed.  I absolutely do not wish for disasters to occur, but I long for the raw atmosphere that follows a disaster.  Love and kindness are genuine, and the grace, peace, and hand of God are undeniable and exposed.  It's an amazing experience.

While volunteering in Alabama we worked alongside a special (especially to us) team of hard-working, mid-western volunteers from German Valley, IL.  This team spent numerous hours, days, and weeks assisting the residents and churches of New Orleans in the rebuilding process after hurricane Katrina.  The two teams combined to take apart a church building that the tornado ruined.  The work was hard and resulted in many scrapes and bruises, but to be able to bless a pastor who is trying to hold the church together amidst personal loss as well was definitely worth it.  Below are pictures of the devastation in Hackleburg and the work done on the church.

Please continue to pray for the folks of Hackleburg as well as those in Joplin, MO.

The church that we took apart.

Rich and Aaron on the roof.

Even the cooks came out to help!

The machine that deserves A LOT of credit for the clean up. 

The master mind behind the machine, and his young assistant driver.

Hard worker!

Larry Swift- director of HH2G, and Dan Miller.

Rich, the slave-driver of the roof crew (I was on that crew :-)  A wonderful person to work with!

The owners of the "salvage company."

My battle wound- I was kissed in the head by a steel beam.

The sanctuary of the church.  Where angels trod.

The sanctuary when the clean up was finished.