Volunteerism is one of our main beliefs. Those who have must help those who do not, and when we work together to achieve our goals, we can accomplish great things. That’s what happened on Sunday in Albany, New York. Many of our Boy Scouts are from there, so everyone has some family in the area. That’s a great reason to go back and visit, but there are always organizations in the area that need our help as well. This past weekend, we drove back up to the capital to help with a local improvement project for a church in Albany. The church has been around for more than 50 years, so the concrete steps, sidewalks, and walkway have begun to crack and fade. It’s unsightly and it’s also a trip hazard since many of the church-goers are disabled and require the concrete handicap ramp. The church took up a collection to pay for some of it, but still needed assistance. Per usual, our awesome group of scouts volunteered to help out, so we drove back upstate to work on the project. In collaboration with a local concrete company, Albany Concrete Contractors, we installed a new walkway, replaced the cracked concrete on the sidewalk, and put in new steps. The team at Albany Concrete Contractors was great to work with. Their experts handled the heavy lifting and worked at their cost to support the local community. It’s always great to see for-profit companies assist a non-profit out of the kindness of their hearts. They took it as a volunteer day and also spent time teaching our boys how to do some concrete masonry work, which was very interesting to learn. The new walkway is an intricate S-curve that runs from the road to the staircase, and the concrete handicap ramp was completely replaced and extended to the main sidewalk. Overall, the accessibility of the building has improved dramatically, making it more aesthetically pleasing and safe as well. After the work was done, Albany Concrete Contractors hosted a neighborhood barbecue to celebrate. The event lasted for about three hours and included hamburgers, hot-dogs, ice cream, and some live music from local bands who volunteered to play. I wish we had recorded the event because I believe someone was taping it and a few of the boys were live-streaming at one point.
If you’d like to see our handiwork, do visit the church and check it out. I think we all did a great job, and I’m proud of our scouts.
