A group of Garrett County residents recently launched a new initiative to engage volunteers to work together on community service projects. Community Works Garrett County will organize volunteers and collaborate with civic, faith-based, school, and other community groups on all manner of projects that make a positive impact in Garrett County. The initiative aims to bring together people across political divides to work together in community service.
Eleanor Adcock, a leader of the new group, said, “We want to engage our wonderful community in working together on community service projects. Garrett Countians truly care about our community — these are projects where neighbors can come together and make a difference for people in the County.”
Community Works provides opportunities to volunteer for a day or more on specific projects. So far, its volunteers have assisted in six projects across the County.
In June and July, Community Works volunteers helped renovate the space for the new “360 Access Hub” created by Community Action, the Garrett Health Department, and Maryland Physicians Care. Once open, the Hub will house a food pantry and provide wrap-around services for the entire community. Volunteers removed old carpet, stripped and painted walls, put up shelves, and cleaned the space to prepare it to open and serve the public.
Laura Robinson, who volunteered, said, “I found it energizing and meaningful to meet and work alongside people who had come together to help realize the opening of a much-needed resource in the community we share (and it was fun!!). Volunteering, and then talking about the experience with others, also proved to be a productive way to spread the news about the 360 Access Hub and Community Works opportunities.”
Chris Mullett, Executive Director of Community Action, said, “bringing people together to address needs in our community is essential. We’re grateful for the commitment of volunteers to support the HUB — it takes all of us working together to improve lives.”
Community Works volunteers have already tackled other community projects, too, including staffing a charity food stand at a livestock show, a road cleanup, and assisting at the Garrett County NAACP’s Juneteenth celebration and with a Deep Creek Lake 100th anniversary event.
The group is looking for additional service projects that will benefit the community. Representatives of Community Works recently met with local mayors at a meeting of the Garrett County Municipalities Council to ask for their input on ways volunteers might support projects in their communities. Lisa Nichols, a member of the leadership team, said, “We’re looking forward to partnering with local towns and civic organizations on projects that will make a difference in the County, and we welcome their ideas!” Local community service organizations can contact the group at CommunityWorksGarrett@gmail.com.
So far, Community Works has over 70 volunteers. The group said that it’s welcoming new volunteers — who can sign up and receive notices about upcoming volunteer opportunities here: https://tinyurl.com/CWGCVolunteer. More information about Community Works Garrett County can be found at https://www.facebook.com/CWorksGC/.
Community Works Garrett County is a chapter of the national Rural Urban Bridge Initiative, which aims to build relationships and trust among people across political differences by working together to address community needs. Originally founded by Democratic volunteers, Community Works Garrett County engages volunteers irrespective of political differences to work together locally on common goals. Community Works’ motto is “when politicians in Washington are fighting partisan battles, we’re finding common ground.”
