Washington Parks and People

I am coming up on my second month volunteering and for the most part all of my experiences have been positive. I have felt a connection to the mission of each organization that I have helped and usually leave with a new perspective on life. I signed up to volunteer with Washington Parks and People to help clean up and refurbish  Marvin Gaye Community Park in DC. First of all let me say that I am familiar with the area where the assignment was but I still manged to get lost trying to find the freaking place! I lived less than 10 minutes away from that park for a good portion of my life but I still found a way to get lost! 
Most of the places I have volunteered at thus far  have had clear markers and signs so that you could not miss where the event was happening. Even though an address was provided for where exactly the event would be, the park was abnormally empty, which I thought was a bad sign.

The park itself is really big and is segmented along Foote street in Northeast, DC. I think I spent a good 20 minutes riding around the area trying to find out where I was supposed to be.  After circling the area like a fool a couple of times someone flagged me down and asked me if I was there to volunteer. After I parked my car and signed the volunteer form, I waited and waited and waited for the volunteer representative to show up to guide me to the site where the other volunteers where. When he did show up he seemed pre-occupied because he was speaking on his cell phone. When he finally did get off of his cell phone he informed me that only two volunteers had showed up and they were organizing a tool shed somewhere in the park. Apparently not enough volunteers showed up to complete the other events that they had scheduled, so he basically let me know there was nothing else for me to do.

Of course I was disappointed : ( .  According to group the sign up sheet for DC Cares, a total of 7 volunteers were scheduled to help clean up to the park in the first place. Only 3 volunteers showed up, which did not look so great. On the other hand I am not too sure the event organizer (cell phone man, lol) had everything ready for the event in the first place. I mean who turns away a volunteer who is willing to help out your cause. It only takes one man to make a change! After my experience at this event I feel less inclined to volunteer again with WPAP.

* On a final note I intend on volunteering somewhere else this month or early next month to make up for this event mishap. I am scheduled to volunteer to feed the homeless at Loaves and Fishes in DC this Sunday and I hope everything goes well. I have also found a willing participant to go with me, aka my niece Tyti of community service to. She needs to complete a certain number of hours to graduate from high school next year, so she will be tagging along with me during some of my adventures.