Hi! It’s Sunday, June 7th, and the first round of volunteers have arrived here in Washington County. While these volunteer groups aren’t my staff, I still took the time to help out, meet some of youth, and hang around with them throughout the day. It’s interesting to me to meet new people from all over the country, and understand their ways of life
It’s also interesting to see how volunteer work can bring people from all over to central Appalachia, a place most Americans won’t ever spend time in. These groups are travelling multiple days to spend a week helping change people’s lives, for completely free. It’s inspiring and admirable to see the motivation and desire to help from all of these groups. I can’t wait to travel around and see all of the gracious work done by the volunteers from all over the country.
Over the past few days, I got to spend time traveling around and interacting with adult volunteers from the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation as they visited sites around our service areas. The Coke Scholars are tremendous people, whose intelligence, comradery, and devotion to service is unmatched. They were working alongside representatives from Coca-Cola Consolidated, who were just as remarkable in their personalities. The volunteers from both of these subsidiaries were extremely welcoming, and made extensive effort to involve us within their groups.
Seeing the hospitality, warmth, and unparalleled uniqueness of these volunteer groups, homeowners, and staff over the past 3 weeks has changed my perspective on life. It has given me so much hope and pride in the people of our country, which is especially important in the troubling times we are traversing through. While we are all from different parts of the country with differing opinions, we are united as one through the service we are providing to the people of Central Appalachia. I know that this experience, along with what has yet to come, will push all of us involved to be the best that we can.
Being a Story Gathering Intern gives me a unique perspective on the effects of the work that ASP is doing. I have been able to travel and meet so many people, hear their stories, and understand their backgrounds, and I’ve only been out of training for 8 days. I know that the summer ahead of me will be one that is not only fun, but enlightening, humbling, and enriching. I am beyond excited to experience all of the facets of Appalachia and its people, even the ones who are just stopping by.
See you next week,
Jaxson Gage
Story Gathering Intern
