Saturday morning we began!  Sheila, the main Services Coordinator for the residents of Broadway Village II apartments, woke up early to pick up 12 dozen Noah’s bagels for our community breakfast. Noah’s donated 10 dozen, and 2 dozen were donated by a Noah’s staff member out of the kindness of her heart. The rest of the food donations came from Trader Joe’s and Starbuck’s.

Our Sangha volunteers (one of whom came all the way from New York), and some volunteers from the city, showed up with all the willingness of this practice and helped set up and hand out T-shirts (beautifully designed by monk Alex) to scores of families who were lining up in the small community room. 

After breakfast, we asked everyone which projects they wanted to work on. There was the garden, the library, mural painting (tons of kids flocked to this one), and painting clay pots that would be planted with seeds and used as a teaching tool for the people who would tend the garden. With 4 work projects going on all at once, lots of volunteers to coordinate, and residents and kids with more energy than we could have anticipated, we dove into transforming Broadway Village II. The experience was PHENOMENAL.

From a volunteer:
I only have to recall the day and happiness surges through me.  Isn’t that wondrous? JOY is the word (which is way too narrow) to encompass the experience of PeaceStorming at Broadway Village.
 
My job was gofer/floater so I got to help out on lots of different projects.  What a gift!

The children--I will never forget the children.  Energetic, bursting with enthusiasm, having fun digging a hole in the ground, not one runny nose in the whole bunch, no squabbling ... I project a result of living in a safe place.  

Imagine:

-- A passel of kids with minimum supervision working with tools without hurting themselves or each other, cooperating, following directions creatively, getting the job done with boundless energy and contagious enjoyment.  

I remember a couple of kids who were asked to move a pile of rocks and debris from one place to another.  They spontaneously created an artful “wall” of rubble at the other end.  

I remember a mother of six swinging a pickaxe to dig a hole for the tree planting.

And I especially remember: No expressions of anger or criticism. It felt like the positive energy left no room for conditioning to run its Muzak of the mind.

It was a tangible, visible explosion of WILLINGNESS from the monks, the volunteers from far and wide, the residents, and their enthusiastic children.

Kudos to those who made Broadway Village such an island of safety for all who live and visit there. 

I’m ready for the next PeaceStorming ... sign me up!

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