This past Saturday I participated in Into the Streets. My group volunteered with the Greater Ithaca Activities Center, raking and weeding the garden. The day was a little rainy for it (luckily we narrowly missed showers before and after our time there) and we were a little short on rakes, but overall I really enjoyed the afternoon. After we finished working, a director at the center explained to us that the everyday maintenance tasks we’d been doing were sometimes neglected at the center because they have a limited staff and other duties, like keeping the inside of the center clean, take priority. I am glad that we were able to meet a need at the center and contribute, in that small way, to the operation they are running.

I also learned a little bit about the programming that the GIAC runs – they have tutoring and mentoring programs for local kids, and a longstanding boxing program that has produced noteworthy boxers in the past. It’s great to see the center providing these services to the Ithaca community. It’s one way that people can come together and get to know and support one another. That closeness and support ties communities together. I’m grateful for Into the Streets for providing us with a way to take part in the greater Ithaca community, even if this time it was just for the afternoon. I hope there are many more afternoons to come.