Written by Kristen Meade, Service Leader on the Foundation to be Named Later Boston Civic Engagement Team

Corps member Bri Gochenour prepares the apple pies to be delivered

Whether from the sweet smell of apples and cinnamon, the sight of mountains of fleece and polyester polyfill, or the hundreds of brightly decorated holiday cards, City Year Boston’s Thanksgiving Service Workshop is a favorite among volunteers and corps members alike.   On the unseasonably warm Friday, November 18, 2011, nearly 220 volunteers from 12 organizations came to City Year Headquarters in Boston’s South End to give their time and service to help others as the winter season approaches.  Many of City Year’s corporate sponsors including Comcast, Johnson & Johnson, State Street, Westfield Capital Management, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and the Foundation to be Named Later stayed multiple shifts to see each of ten projects completed.

The many highlights of the day include watching Bri Gochenour, corps member on the Johnson & Johnson team serving at the Orchard Gardens K-8 School, as she navigated the half of the Levine Civic Forum dedicated to preparing apple pies to be delivered throughout the day to the Pine Street Inn in Jamaica Plain.  Bri, one of three project coordinators assigned to making apple pies, flitted around the dozen or so volunteers ensuring they had all the necessary instruments and ingredients and stayed on schedule.  About her project, she says, “It was very powerful to see the finished product of 183 pies, but it was more powerful to watch the volunteers put so much effort into each pie.  One of my volunteers made the point that we should send pies that we would want on our Thanksgiving table.”

“This is the spirit that drives us to do excellent service, which strives not only for quantity, but also quality.”

Volunteers from the Celtics Community Crew make fleece blankets for a children’s center.

A Few Service Accomplishments of the Day:

• - 200 toiletry packages were compiled for the Women’s Lunch Place and the Friday Night Supper Program.
• - 300 scarves were created for Rosie’s Place, a homeless shelter for women.
• - 60 fleece blankets were made for Horizons for Homeless Children.
• - 183 apple pies were prepared and delivered to the Pine Street Inn.
• - 122 sustainable grocery bags were decorated and donated to the food pantry at Urban Edge.
• - 43 back packs were filled with school supplies for the Elizabeth Peabody House.
• - 160 teddy bears and other animals were stuffed and personalized for the Dimock Center and the Elizabeth Peabody House.