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After a hot breakfast of waffles, the groups set out for one last day of hard work. The roofing crew finished up, working until 5:30 to make sure it got done. The hardwood floor was also finished. A little work remains on the bathtub, which will most likely be done by Steph and Andrea at a later date. Two dry walling groups put in a full days work, hanging, mudding, and sanding in two separate houses. After a weeks worth of work, each crew invited the people they worked for over to share dinner with us. Total we had fifteen people that we worked for over for dinner. Later, the group took time to reflect over the past week, sharing the good and the bad. The trip was a great success. For those expecting family members home, we will be home in the early afternoon, most likely sometime in between 1 and 2.

Apologies for the lack of blog yesterday; the Internet here at the center was having problems. Over the past two days, the crews have done large amounts of work. The ramp crew has now moved on to a decking site, where they will be replacing decking boards of a porch; they have also been working on replacing the roofing over said porch. The painting crew finished up their work yesterday after not only replacing sofets, but painting those sofets as well. Today, that group stayed at the center to help out with a number of different things, including working at the food pantry helping Sue. The tin roof group is nearly finished, simply having to go out tomorrow and put some finishing touches on the roof. The shingling roof has some work to do tomorrow. Last night the group enjoyed Dairy Queen after some hard work. Today, we will be attending Front Porch Picking, which is a group of local musicians jamming together in a mixture of country and bluegrass.

The group arose bright and early to share in worship with Fr. Vince. After a 6:30 mass, eggs and sausage were served. Blessed with another day free of rain, the sites put out a lot of hard work today. The shingling roof site finished 1/2 of the back roof, which amounts to about 3/8 of the total work on that site. The tin roof laid down some good ground work which will allow things to move forward quickly tomorrow. The painting crew has a few minimal things to finish up tomorrow, which consists of some side rail work. The ramp crew will finish tomorrow by adding rails to the mostly finished ramp. They worked hard today, both framing and decking the ramp.

After a wake up call from Andrea and hot breakfast of waffles from our wonderful cooks, the group shared in the prayer of St. Francis before setting out for work. Joined by Father Vince, the painting group worked hard, scraping and painting an entire house. All that remains is some simple sofet work. Both roofing groups put forth large amounts of effort and knocked off parts of the roof, probably a quarter of the way done with the tear off and replacement. The ramp site dug and set all the posts, meaning all that remains is framing and decking. The hardwood floor group set down all of the sheets of wood and now need to put tiles down. The bathtub at that same site is in the process of being removed and replaced. Overall, the group accomplished large amounts of work today.

After a send-off mass and a five hour drive, the twenty-five volunteers arrived at the Auxier Lifetime Learning Center. Built in 1929 as a school building, the ALLC is now run by Hand-in-Hand ministries as a site including a food pantry, home repairs, GED and computer classes, and sowing classes for the members of Floyd County and the surrounding counties. This week, our volunteers from SSFC will be aiding in the home repair efforts of ALLC, from building wheelchair ramps to repairing roofs and painting houses. Please keep not only the volunteers in your prayers this week, but also the people of Eastern Kentucky which we will serve. Thank you and God Bless!!

Waking up one last time bright and early, the group was eager to finish up the work sites for the day. After putting in a thirty foot ramp, finishing drywall at two sites and roofing at another, as well as finishing general home repairs, the group returned tired from work. After managing to find some energy to move furniture around the Auxier center and enjoying a delicious dinner, the group was treated line dancing, a unique blend of square dancing and Appalachian culture. After an hour of dancing, Stephanie and Andrea led a great spiritual reflection of the past week and the missions work we have done. The plan for tomorrow is to leave around 8:00 A.M. and to arrive between 1:00 and 2:00 P.M. Thanks for all your prayers this week.

With only two more days of work to go, the groups set out today, determined not to be deterred by the rain. While the roofing crew managed to do a little work, both drywall crews were able to put in full work days, with simple sanding and painting remaining for tomorrow. A fourth group managed to dig fourteen post holes which will aide greatly in the completion of a thirty foot ramp tomorrow, our last day of work. After a week of such hard work, Andrea and Stephanie were kind enough to allow us a trip to Dairy Queen, which everybody greatly enjoyed. After, a crazed fascination with arm-wrestling hit, which lasted for over 35 minutes. Sam, our ultimate champion, is displayed here wrestling Steve, a tough competitor. Thank you for all your prayers this week and please play for the strength to complete one last day of work. God Bless!

After waiting out rain to begin the day, the groups got a late start at the sites but still managed to get in a full days work. The roofing crew finished closing up another roof and simply has some siding touch up to do. Both ramp groups finished today and will be moving on to other ramps on Thursday. Two of our groups will be working inside on drywall. After a hard day of work, we visited Charlie and Sue at their house. Charlie and Sue are the former owners and current managers (under Hand and Hand ministries) of the Auxier Center. At the house we feasted on ice cream and enjoyed stories from Charlier both about the Appalachian mountains and the center.

Beginning with a vigorous meeting of the stretching club and a quick prayer, the groups set out for another day of hard work. With some quick use of tar, the roofing group finished up their site and added some additional repairs to the ceiling tiles inside the house. While one of the ramp groups is nearly done, simply waiting on a couple 2x4 boards to finish railing, the other has a little ways to go, needing to add both decking boards and railing. They have hopes of finishing on Wednesday. The general home repair site finished up some painting today. With the help of a long-term volunteer, Kieth, they also put in a new door. After working, the celebration of Holly Paddock's birthday began, with a cake after dinner as part of the festivities.

Waking bright and early to a 6:00 A.M wake up call, the group was anxious to get to work. After showers, a quick breakfast, and a prayer, each group to set out to one of four different sites. While two consisted of building wheelchair ramps, one involved roof work and another general home repairs. After a hard day of work, the two ramp sites set up the frames and are looking forward to decking the ramps tomorrow. The roof site finished most of the work with some touch ups to do tomorrow. Finding more work than expected, the home repair site almost has their work cut out for them. The week looks as if it should be busy! Please keep the group in your prayers.

Sunday May 31st - Departure Day

After worshiping at seven fifteen mass and receiving a blessing from Father Vince, the group set off for the five hour drive to Appalachia. With a couple stops here and there for gas and food, we arrived safe and sound around 2:00. As the adults set out to view sites for tomorrow and the kids played frisbee, dinner soon arrived. After dinner the family meeting acted as an orientation meeting to Appalachia and its population. The group is looking forward to getting out to do some work tomorrow.