Days 4 and 5: Tuesday in the Warehouse, Wednesday Moving Stuff

Tuesday and Wednesday have been relatively light work days for us. On Tuesday, we went to the warehouse that serves as the storage facility and staging area for the regional Angel Tree Project. (N.B.: The copyright for the term “Angel Tree” is held jointly by the Salvation Army and Prison Fellowship Ministries; use by any other entity is a violation of copyright. Enforcing that is part of Jim Garrett’s job!) In 2007, the local Angel Tree Project provided at least three toys, an outfit of clothing and a Christmas stocking to each of nearly 15,000 children. Distribution takes place at the made pace of 50 families per 15 minute interval. Following the Christmas rush, there are toys and clothes leftover, people bring in items late or take advantage of after-Christmas sales to purchase gifts for the following year. As a result, it takes until approximately March 1st to sort through and to package up the gifts and clothing that will be held for the following Christmas.

In addition to warehousing materials for the Angel Tree program, the warehouse behind the thrift store also serves as the clearinghouse for regional Salvation Army disaster response. In order to facilitate the latter, it’s important that as much space as possible be made available in anticipation of a regional (or, as in the case of Hurricane Katrina, national) disaster.

Through the early afternoon on Tuesday, the gang of four sorted toys while I sorted clothing. Perry had the fun of driving the forklift while Brian merely hauled pallets from one area to another. Barry enjoyed being in the thick of things but he was mostly in the thick of the very dirty warehouse floor. He was so dirty that I bit the bullet and arranged for him to visit the grooming salon at the local PetsMart for a bath and brush. He was much improved afterward!

Once we’d run out of things to do at the warehouse, the students were eager to get moving, so we came back to the SA headquarters (SAHQ?) to clean up, catch our collective breath and get a bite to eat. (Meanwhile, I took Barry to the spa and explored the nearby mall.) Later, we went to the movies (“Atonement”) and visited Heine’s coffee (two of our group made a return visit to Graeter’s) before returning to catch up on the news (“The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report,” of course!).

Today, we helped with the office move, hauling stuff from one part of the old building to another and then helping to unload the trucks at the new building. We were hosted at lunch by members of the local chapter of the University of Michigan Alumni Association, which was a lot of fun! We completed our work at the new building by 3, after which the guys went to the Frazier International Museum while the women went to the Muhammed Ali Center. As I write, we’ve finished dinner and are contemplating our evening plans. (I for one need to get some WORK done!)

Peace, Shalom, Salaam,
Pastor Sue