On Wednesday, January, 11th, Ed Savoth, Grace Boal, Ashley Hackett, and I departed Logan airport in Boston, MA to assist City Year Milwaukee (CY MKE) prepare for their MLK Jr. Day of service. Arriving around 7 p.m. we grabbed dinner and went to the apartments we would be rooming in for the next few days, generously provided by Senior Corps and staff of City Year Milwaukee. I had the opportunity to stay with four CY MKE alumni, three of which currently serve as Senior Corps Members with CY MKE.
In the morning we began our day at the CY MKE headquarters, where we were introduced to Luke Fickbohm, the Civic Engagement Project Leader, and Kara Navin, the External Affairs and Communications Associate for CY MKE. After a briefing by Luke on the event details, he led us in prep. We sorted tools and materials needed for each one of the 24 different projects to be completed on MLK Day. After lunch we took the materials to Alexander Hamilton High School, and had a walk-through of the project. That evening we began preparatory work, which included cutting wood, sketching murals, and ensuring all projects the supplies needed in order to be successful.
Friday morning we started at Hamilton, along with over 60 City Year Milwaukee Corps Members and staff, to complete remaining prep work. After prep, we went with the CY MKE “village” (Staff and Senior Corps) to McBob’s, a restaurant in the North side of Milwaukee. McBob’s has a fish fry every Tuesday and Friday night, and is a Care Force & CY MKE ‘tradition’ to go there, as this is the third year Care Force went to Milwaukee to assist with the MLK Day Service event.
On Saturday we began later in the morning, giving everyone some time to catch up with sleep lost over the first few days. Starting out at the school we were able to complete the prep work. Sunday we were fortunate to have the day off, but still united as a team for brunch with the Milwaukee Senior Corps Members. After visiting with them, we took a trip with Luke to Oriental Landmark Lanes, a bowling alley on the Upper East Side of Milwaukee built in 1927. We enjoyed a few games of bowling and then headed to ‘Replay’d’, a restaurant nearby, to eat dinner and watch the Patriots game.
Monday, January 16th was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and our service event in remembrance of his legacy. Well over 300 volunteers attended from a variety of organizations, companies, and universities. After opening program, City Year Milwaukee’s project coordinators lead volunteers into service. The volunteers painted over 100 murals, built benches and a school sign for the main entrance, painted garbage cans the school colors to raise school spirit made the day a huge success.
I enjoyed this trip because of the differences from a typical Care Force trip, and the opportunity to participate in another site-based event. Sharing a place with fellow senior corps in their city was a unique experience and I appreciated learning about the perspectives of Milwaukee from people who are actively involved in the city. Observing volunteers come from across the state to serve on MLK Jr. Day inspired me and made me proud to be a part of it.
Peter Christophersen
Senior Corps Member
Team Care Force
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