The Andrew L. Hicks, Jr. Foundation organized a Community Service Day in Chester for the Warrior Guides program which took place on December 10, 2011.  The 85 Henderson High School students who are Warrior Guides met their Chester Braves at Widener Partnership Charter School at 10:00am that morning and then the pairs broke into 7 groups and went out into the community to serve at seven different non-profit agencies; all located very close to Widener Partnership Charter School.

The Guides and their Braves worked together for two hours on all different types of projects and then everyone reconvened at Widener Partnership Charter School for lunch and a holiday party.  A special thanks goes out to HHS senior, Kam Talebezadeh, who collected a pair of gloves for every Brave and personally wrapped each sweatshirt that the Braves received from their Warrior Guide!

Below is a list of the seven agencies that we served and a brief description of the work that was accomplished:

Chester Fire Department 15 pairs of kids painted the entire inside of the engine room at the Chester Fire Department!  The kids also worked together to paint stripes outside in the parking lot and to stencil “Reserved” on some of the spaces.

Palmer House 12 pairs of high schoolers and their middle school friends decorated the community room at this elderly residence center and then performed some live Christmas entertainment including instrument solos, caroling and the reading of the biblical account of the birth of Jesus.  All of this was followed by a nice reception that we provided for the guests.

Stinson Towers 15 pairs of students decorated offices and the reception rooms for Christmas and then groups of children sang, performed Christmas songs and instrument solos, and read the Christmas story.  The kids hosted a Christmas reception afterwards for over 60 guests of this senior residential living center.

Delaware County Pregnancy Center 5 pairs of Warrior Guides and Braves worked on two separate projects.  The first was to unload book shelves, clean and relocate their library to a lower floor.  The second project was to paint an upstairs bathroom.  A couple of students also made Christmas wreaths for the office.

The Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired Although this organization was closed on Saturday, 12/10, our students stayed back at Widener Partnership Charter School and 10 pairs of students worked together to make 20 fleece lap blankets for the clients at the Center.  The kids also recorded their own Christmas greetings and themselves reading the Christmas story for the blind clients to enjoy.  The blankets were delivered by several student to the clients on Monday along with the audio recording of their Christmas greetings.

Providence Baptist Church 10 pairs of Warrior Guides and Braves cleaned and organized both a kitchen and storage space at this church.

Wesley House Our 6 pairs of students decorated a Christmas tree and the first floor of this homeless shelter which cares for 16 families, including 37 children.  The students also hung 37 paires of gloves for all of the children by ribbon which they strung all around the lobby.

Special Thanks:

The Richard Family
Krapf Bus Company
Arianna’s Gourmet Cafe and Catering
Widener Partnership Charter School
The Gilpin Family