Volunteer Gratitude
It Takes A Village – The Back Porch Team
Team members:
- Project Captain: Pat Kirkhoff
- Design and Lead Construction: Bill Spangle
- Master Carpenter: Jef Gunn
- Concrete master: Robert Archer
- Shop Work: Steve Parker, Bill Spangle
- Main Supporting Crew (Demolition, Concrete, Sanding and Staining): Lama Eric, Jennifer Chang, Rich Miller, Luther Liu, Peter B, Linda Grove, Phil Wallin, John Jennings other sangha members helped out as well.
- Service Group Coordinator: John Jennings
Last spring, in order to improve access to the building for all sangha members, we decided to remodel the back entrance ramp and add a porch. Many sangha members with canes, walkers and the occasional wheelchair use the ramp to access the building. The old ramp didn’t function well for wheelchairs. The size of the landing area didn’t allow a wheelchair to easily turn to get through the door. The new access ramp has a larger deck covered by a durable metal roof and adds a seating bench and stair access to the west yard.
An estimated budget to cover the materials was approved by the Board and off we went to create a design, with most of the detail worked out by Bill and Pat and the “final” working drawings by Bill. Some of you may remember that Bill and Pat (along with many of the other volunteers listed above) were also instrumental in the transformation of the old Skidmore church into KCC’s beautiful facility.
With the same attention to detail, precision and care, our lead back porch renovation team worked tirelessly, fitting the work into busy, on-going lives. In fact, the scheduling challenges were among the biggest difficulties we faced. Sometimes only one or two team members would be able to work. Finding overlap with the other volunteers doing support jobs was similarly problematic.
Certainly, many hundreds of hours were spent from the creation of the design, to the actual physical work up to the eventual completion of the project. Demolition of the old deck and railing around the basement stairwell was rough and dirty work, as was digging holes for the concrete footings. The sanding and staining used gallons of oil-based stain on hundreds of feet of boards and involved the efforts of at least 7 volunteers working long hours under the tent, rain or shine, while also trying to avoid hornet stings. The work of these volunteers allowed the lead builders to concentrate on measuring, cutting, fitting and screwing together the posts, beams, joists, rafters, trusses, and decking. As the days got shorter and the rains started we hired an outside contractor to put the metal roofing on the base structure to provide durable protection of the wood/surfaces from the elements.
The detailed work and commitment to quality shown by Pat, Bill and Jef is outstanding. Work continues. The decking is nearly done, the railing, a built-in bench and gutters remain. We anticipate the project to be functionally finished by mid-February.
Please contact John Jennings () if you’d like to get involved! This project truly demonstrates “people of goodwill working for the benefit of all.”
