A painting action, i.e. the Serve the City Global Volunteer Day and a new look of rooms at the St. Albert women’s shelter!
For the Serve The City family around the world, May 8, 2021 was a day of great mobilization. It was then that all of us, despite the borders and COVID turmoil, united in larger projects to do something good for the local communities in which we live.
Our STC team in Kraków, responding to the current needs, decided to give a new look to several rooms at St. Albert’s shelter for women. With a great team, divided into several hours of shifts (so that the number of people corresponds to the current government restrictions), we painted three rooms. Thanks to efficient and mobilized work, the effect exceeded our expectations – we encountered several difficulties with peeling layers of old paint, and old, screwed hangers, and the lack of appropriate equipment. Nevertheless, thanks to volunteers who brought appropriate equipment from a nearby construction shop, it was possible to finish the work efficiently in one day. You can see the effects in the pictures below.
It was an intense and, above all, valuable work. Thanks to all the volunteers involved, we made the rooms more pleasant, which took on a fresher look; and now they can be transformed into places where in the future, as STC, we want to conduct workshops and projects with the residents of this shelter.
We would also like to thank the Order of Sisters who welcomed us in a friendly and generous way – we were invited for coffee, tea, and cakes, and after several hours of intensive work for lunch. Thank you very much and we hope that the rooms will serve all the inhabitants of this place for many, many years 🙂
We would like to thank all the volunteers for their help and we remind everyone – keep an eye on our social media platforms, soon we hope to meet at the shelter with new projects in the renovated rooms!
Without you, dear volunteers, this day would not be possible – thank you!
Volunteer thoughts on this day:
Agnieszka:
“I am glad that I had the opportunity to do something good thanks to this action. With each painted wall, I had the impression that we really are helping someone measurably and you can see the effects of our effort. Besides, we had a great time and I met a lot of nice people – even though it was my first time volunteering, I felt that we were creating a harmonious team, and thanks to that the work was going fast. I will certainly want to take part in similar endeavors.”
Michał:
“Going on a Saturday for half a day of painting the walls, I had little expectations. I signed up for 5 hours and I was a little afraid that I wouldn’t be able to do that much. I even packed kabanos (sausage snacks) and bananas in case there was nothing to eat. However, to my pleasant surprise, not only did the sisters host us with a delicious dinner and snacks, but I also saw many familiar faces and met a few new ones. 5 hours turned into almost 7 hours of painting like Bob Ross with all the colors of the rainbow – even though we used white paint. All in one sentence, it was a fruitful day in a great atmosphere, and we also helped a little at the women’s shelter.”
Estera:
“I believe that the time spent in the shelter was exceptional in many respects for each volunteer. We could actually do something good, live, not via the Internet, help in a very tangible way, which was a special experience for us. It was wonderful to see all the people who, though most of them did not know each other at all, spoke different languages, tried to do their best to perform the tasks entrusted to them.”
After painting 
After painting 
After painting 
Before 
Before 
Before 
