1st Day of Work- Northern Youth Project!!

On Monday, we FINALLY got to do the thing we love the most... WORK!
Everywhere we go- from urban Knoxville, to Appalachia, to Ghost Ranch- people are surprised
by the massive amount of work (and the excellent quality of work, our Westminster youth are willing to do. (Thank you, everyone who has mentored and guided our work every summer. You teach us well!!!)

Our job at the Northern Youth Project, in Abiquiu, was to do the "heavy lifting" so the youth and Abiquiu community could reclaim beds, facilitate efficient irrigation, and tear down and recycle a retaining wall. We also relocated a pollinator hotel to make room for a memorial tree.
Disassembling the retaining wall seemed like a fun job, until the drill quit working!

Maggie + 9 more strong youth and adults = almost 500 square feet of new garden space!

Lots of smiles!!

Expert, meticulous weeding!

Rerouting an irrigation ditch!

More smiles...

And... everyone knows singing classic rock improves productivity!!

This is Marcella. 
She passionately loves her community. She told us that this little garden is making their lives better by teaching their youth responsibility and leadership. It also is a source of pride for all of 
Abiquiu. I got several opportunities to have conversations with this wonderful, kind teacher. She said this was great for her youth to see the work Westminster Youth were capable of doing. With
tears in her eyes, she said, "You ALL are amazing. 
You don't even realize how much you have helped us!!"

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