Day of caring: Helping out those in the community
By JENNA MCCASLIN
Every year Bellefonte Area High School (BAHS) takes the time out of their day to help the community of Bellefonte and neighboring towns. This year, Day of Caring took place on Thursday, Oct 5. There were many different places that needed help, places such as the Union Cemetery, fire companies,Bellefonte Middle School, and the list continues.
BAHS junior, Willow Bierly, spent her day at the Bellefonte Area Middle School (BAMS) helping with all the outside work that needed to be done.
“For my community service I went to Bellefonte Middle School to pick up trash around the school, then went back to the high school to do yard work and pull weeds in the courtyard. We picked up trash around the bleachers and did yard work near the main entrance,” Willow said.
There were many areas of need at her location pertaining to outside areas.
“Some activities and options that were there for me to do at the middle school was picking up the trash and at the high school was to pull weeds in the courtyard and rake mulch in the front of the school entrance,” Willow said.
She enjoyed her time helping her community out, and she likes bringing a smile to the faces of the people at school with a clean outside area.
“My favorite part was doing yard work in the front area of the school. It made me feel happy to help out the community because it helps protect the school’s environment and protect the earth,” Willow said.
Fellow Junior, Cordelia McCoy, went to the fire station for her community service. She helped them during their busy schedules.
“We cleaned the fire station of Pleasant Gap Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and cleaned their fire trucks. There was cleaning the fire trucks, cleaning the floors with the power washer and squeegee-ing the floors, emptying the trash, and sweeping the floors,” Cordelia said.
She enjoyed her day at the EMS, but cleaning and helping out the firefighters was her favorite.
“My favorite part about the visit was cleaning and taking care of the fire station floor. Squeegee-ing the floor was one of my favorite parts and working with the power washer,” Cordelia said.
She was pleased that she took the weight off the shoulders of our brave fire fighters in Pleasant Gap.
“I feel like I helped the community by giving the firefighters a couple fewer things to do on their busy schedule,” Cordelia said.
Senior, Trey Wagner, had the opportunity to work at the Union Cemetery where they cleaned gravestones and improved the scenery.
“I helped clean gravestones at the Union Cemetery in Bellefonte. We did things such as cleaning gravestones, leaf blowing, and helping to dig up fallen gravestones. It was rewarding to see them go from really dirty and hard to read to clean and clear,” Trey said.
He was glad he got to help his community. He hopes that one day people will be just as kind enough to clean the graves of his loved ones when the time comes.
“It felt good, I would want someone to take care of my loved ones’ gravestones so why shouldn’t we help out,” Trey said.
Senior, Marissa Yeager, also was at the Union Cemetery for her community service activity. She mainly cleaned the tombstones for the day watching them do a 180.
“I cleaned tombstones, and watched as they went from worn and old to something beautiful. It really made a difference,” Marissa said.
She was happy to see how well everyone was doing, and watching all the stones turn from a dirty brown and green to their original form and color.
“Seeing the results really put a smile on my face, I could finally read the tombstones that my fellow classmates and I scrubbed all that day.” Marissa said.
She will cherish the time and memories she made that day cleaning with her classmates, and cleaning stones for peoples’ lost loved ones who needed some care.
“It made me feel good helping the community by cleaning for those who have lost a loved one, and now can see a clean and clear grave,” Marissa said.
Day of Caring brought the school together with the community to help for a better cause. The work every student and faculty member put in shows in all locations students provided service for. As a student body, it shows how much community means to all involved in making the town a better and more beautiful place to live.
