Et cetera : In the Park with FEMA Corps Team Spruce 5

Spruce 5 with the members of the Community who came out to help with the Clean-up of Morris Park

By Emma Messinger

May brought with it warm weather and bright spirits to the towns along the Susquehanna River.  With the cherry blossoms in bloom, what better time to have a community day? When the FEMA Corps team Spruce 5 first came to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in early April the Project Outreach Liaisons Max Rusek and Kristy Reponen began the initial planning of the community day. Both hard workers, they set up the framework for a three-part community day.

May 4 and 5 were the first days in a three-part community day. The whole team participated in running information booths for AmeriCorps NCCC and for West Pittston Tomorrow, a non-profit group founded to help rebuild after Tropical Storm Lee, at the Annual West Pittston Cherry Blossom Festival. The team did free face painting and gave out information about disaster preparedness as well as advertised for the third part of the community day.

The last part of the community day was a clean-up at Morris Park in West Pittston, Pa. with the West Pittston Shade Tree Commission. On May 11 the team waited at the park, supplies ready to go and itching to get down to work but the weather wasn’t cooperating. It had rained heavily the night before and was still drizzling. By time the project started the team had four community volunteers willing to work in the rain, side-by-side in the damp grass, mulching the young trees and pulling the weeds out of the bark dust that covered the playground.

It was nice to interact with community members and help them clean up a park that, on a nice day, buzzes with youth from the community. “One of the greatest things about that day was when two young kids came by and started helping the team clean the park, which they enjoy, and it was refreshing to see that they enjoy the community service and made our work feel worthwhile,” said Max from Spruce 5.

After the clean-up, the community members agreed to do a reflection with the team, led by Service Learning Initiators Abbey Miskowiec and Chris Fletcher. Reflections are a major part of the team’s activities and it was nice to be able to share this aspect of the FEMA Corps program with the community. From the initial planning stages, to the mulching and weeding, the community day can only be counted as a success and Spruce 5 is proud of the work that they have done in the community of West Pittston.