Leaders with North and Central Whidbey Hearts and Hammers are searching for volunteers to help out with their upcoming work days, which were rescheduled from their usual May dates because of the pandemic.
Hearts and Hammers is an organization that mobilizes community members to help make necessary repairs to their neighbors’ homes, focusing particularly on neighbors with limited resources to make repairs themselves.
North Whidbey Hearts and Hammers will be holding its work day on Sept. 11. This year marks the third event for the North Whidbey group, and it is still searching for volunteers.
Coordinator Mary Corella said the group is looking for around a dozen more people to sign up to help. There is no experience necessary; volunteers of all skill levels are welcome.
“We just want to fix all the broken homes that are out there,” Corella said.
Volunteers will meet at 8 a.m. at Windjammer Park the morning of the work day for breakfast snacks. There, everyone will receive a sack lunch and a work assignment and move to their respective sites with their teams.
While the North Whidbey group is not hosting the usual full dinner at the end of the day this year due to COVID-19 concerns, volunteers will reconvene at the park at 5 p.m. for a brief thank you gathering.
Anyone interested can sign up by visiting the website, http://nwheartsandhammers.org and clicking the volunteer link or contacting the phone number or email address on the homepage.
Central Whidbey Hearts and Hammers will also be hosting their work day this month on Sept. 25.
“Our Board of Directors recognized that based on the needs of our community neighbors this year, we needed to reschedule rather than postpone again until next year,” coordinator Kathleen Ryan wrote in an email.
Despite difficulties posed by the pandemic, the Central Whidbey volunteers still managed to safely take on emergency projects throughout the year. Now they’re rescheduling the work day they had originally planned for May of this year to assist “neighbors in our community who need help staying healthy and safe in their homes,” according to a press release from the group.
“This year because of COVID, we’re really being cognizant of how many people we can work with in a given space,” said Kelly Keilwitz, president of Central Whidbey Hearts and Hammers.
He emphasized that the group is being extra careful to keep volunteer groups small and workers spread out during the day for everyone’s safety.
Central Whidbey volunteers will meet at Four Square Church on Northwest Broadway in Coupeville. The group is forgoing its usual sit-down meal in the interest of health, but it will be providing workers with boxed lunches.
Anyone interested in participating in the Central Whidbey work day can sign up at https://cwheartsandhammers.org/volunteers.
While South Whidbey Hearts and Hammers will not be holding a work day this year, the members announced on their Facebook page that they are planning one for May 7, 2022.
