Et cetera : NCCC Cedar 4 prepares for summer at YMCA

NCCC’s Cedar 4 Prepares for the Summer

By Jerome Frey

AmeriCorps NCCC Team Cedar 4 completed their tornado relief project in Henryville, Indiana. After meeting many incredible people, both volunteers and survivors, the team was sad to go. Still, they were excited and ready to move on to their next project.

Cedar 4 is now stationed in Loretto, Minnesota working for the YMCA of Metro Minneapolis. The team is helping to provide facility upgrades, complete general maintenance projects and facilitate youth programs from April 30 until May 11. NCCC members spent the first week of their project at two different camp sites—camps Kici Yapi and Streefland.

At camp Kici Yapi, Cedar 4 split up to work on making the trails safer by adding a new layer of class-five gravel. They also evened out steps by adding more of the gravel. The other half of the team worked on putting up a new horse fence. The new fence will allow the horses the space they need to graze and roam while protecting the waterline of a nearby lake that runs through the field.

The next two days were spent at Camp Streefland. The team started working on installing stairs that run downhill. The rain delayed the project and Cedar 4 turned their attention to cleaning up the art and crafts center. The other half of the team was able to remove an old fence and put in archery posts before the rain. The team finished the day when they completed archery range. The second day the team was determined to finish the stairway. Cedar 4 worked together, digging and hammering the new stairs. The rest of the team filled up the gaps and evened out each step with gravel.

The second week was spent at Camp Ihduhapi with more repairs around the site. The team helped facilitate activities for the eager half-day campers, age 5-7 years old. The rest of the day was spent preparing the camp site for the approaching summer. The team removed downed limbs and cleaned up the human foosball court. Cedar 4 is proud to have helped the camp sites to provide a memorable summer for the campers.