Volunteering at Sunshine Acres Children's Home - Part 1

We made our way to our winter destination in Mesa, Arizona in early December to volunteer at Sunshine Acres Children's Home (SACH).  A couple, Linda and Randy, we met while volunteering for the Angels Spring Training in March 2019 have volunteered at SACH for two winters so far and again this winter and they recommended it to us.  We decided to give it a try this winter and gave them a four month commitment.  We weren't sure what we would be doing so we were a little nervous at first. 

Sunshine Acres, opened in 1954,  provides a loving, wholesome, Christian home for children who are separated from their parents and helps them establish long-term relationships with stable parental figures, preparing them for success in adult life. 

More info on Sunshine Acres:  https://sunshineacres.org/

The property consists of seven homes that house 10 children each along with house parents.  There is also a learning center with computers, barn with farm animals, swimming pool, playground, dining hall, small chapel, and a church. Onsite there were also other buildings such as the office, a maintenance building, greenhouse, donation center, donation store, and boutique.   

Office Building

Al, Linda, Randy, and their dog, Riley

We arrived on the property and got settled in to their small RV park which holds around 15 RV's of volunteers. 

Our trailer near the greenhouse

The patio at night and decorated for Christmas

We had some great sunset views from our site.

We found our pot of gold!

Nearby the property was a Boeing Plant where they build Apache Attack Helicopters for the military.  Occasionally we would hear them fly overhead.

When we arrived at SACH, we had to do a 10 day quarantine to make sure we were not bringing in Covid-19.  After our 10 days were up we met with Mary, the Volunteer Coordinator, to get our assignments.  As a couple staying in the RV Park, we had to each volunteer 15 hours per week.  For that they provided a full hookup site along with lunch on the days we volunteered.  There was also a building in the RV park area that contained a kitchen with refrigerator, two washers and two dryers we could use for free, restrooms, and a covered and heated patio to play games.  

One of our first assignments was to volunteer for the 1st annual Christmas Lights of Love.  Due to the pandemic, the annual Barbecue in February was canceled so they had a company come on site and decorate the various buildings with Christmas lights.  Carloads of people could drive through to see the lights and possibly leave a donation at the end.  It went on for many nights.  Al and I were the greeters so we welcomed everyone onsite and told them a little about SACH and helped them get started on the route.  That was tiring for me to say the same spiel over and over and over again.  One benefit of wearing a mask is that I could yawn and no one would know. 
 

 

Some nights the kids did a live nativity scene.

Since we spent the holidays in Arizona, we did Zoom calls with my family to celebrate. 

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we went to church in the little chapel on site at SACH.  A few days later we found out the pastor along with some of the family that run SACH came down with Covid-19.  Uh oh, we were in a little church with the pastor and spoke with him after the service.  We found a CVS nearby that was administering tests and got tested in their drive thru.  By the next morning we had our results and we were both negative.  Phew!  That was too close!  Most of the property went into lock down.

New Year's Day

In January, we had tickets to fly to Pennsylvania to celebrate my Dad's 80th birthday.  Since neither of us were eligible for vaccinations yet, we decided to cancel our trip.  I remember seeing on the news a person saying they would give up one Thanksgiving to have many more Thanksgivings with their loved one who died.  I didn't want to take the chance of flying all that way and infecting my family so we will celebrate my Dad's birthday in August when we plan to be in Pennsylvania.  

In place, we had a silly Zoom call to celebrate Dad!

We got most of our volunteer hours each week working in the Greenhouse which I'll show soon.  The other hours were Al working a little in maintenance and I worked in the Donation Store.  

A new skill acquired by Al was driving this tractor.  

Al trimmed some trees on the property and used the scoop as a trash can.  I think it was an excuse to drive the tractor!

I filled up my hours working in the Donation Warehouse store.  This was definitely a new skill for me as I'm not a good decorator.  Some days I worked with another lady, Patty, from the RV Park and she was helpful in getting my feet wet.  

Our first day in the store we were asked to put out dolls.  Someone donated a large collection of dolls that were all boxed very nicely in tissue paper.  Patty and I unwrapped many, many dolls and then tried to price them reasonably.  

Some of the dolls we put out for sale

As the weeks went on, I would add more and more dolls to the display to keep it full.  

Other days I would straighten up the kids toy area and stock with newly donated items and books.  The toy area was always a mess after the kids got in there and played with the toys!

I also did a little sewing of flags for the girl's flag team to put in more volunteer hours.  

We certainly ate well during our time at SACH and managed to gain weight between Covid-19 restrictions and great food temptations!  Our lunches were mostly cooked by Fernando and the rest of the kitchen staff and volunteers.

Fernando

Some evenings we would have dinner with Linda and Randy.  Most of the cooking was done by Linda or Al.  Randy contributed too!  Me, I just ate!

Randy's Kitchen with barbecue and Blackstone Griddle

There were also many donations to SACH of cakes and snacks from the local grocery stores which were shared with us volunteers.

In mid January we towed the trailer up to Prescott Valley, Arizona (about 2.5 hours) to have some warranty work done.  We dropped off the trailer at the dealer and went for a nice hike with our friend Bill around Lynx Lake.  Prescott Valley is at a higher elevation so we hiked in a little remaining snow. 

After the work on our trailer was completed, it was back to Sunshine Acres.  

Randy's birthday was in January so to celebrate we went for a hike at nearby Silly Mountain Park.

Huff and Puff Trail

Later we gathered with other volunteers to have cake!

Two Birthday Cakes!

Another new skill we acquired is how to play Mexican Train.  It's a popular game with the volunteers so we had Linda and Randy teach us before we joined in with the group.  Friday nights were game night on the patio.  Some nights there were three tables of games going.

Deb, Pete, Lenny, and Patty

While we were stationary for four months we did some projects on the RV.  My project was to build shelves in one of our closets for clothes.  I made them out of PVC pipe and thin sheets of wood for the shelves.  This closet could hold a washer/dryer but why take up all that precious clothes storage?

Al worked with a fellow volunteer and master woodcrafter, Floyd.  Together they built us a new and improved medicine cabinet for the bathroom.  I love it!

This is the old one with so much wasted space on either side.

Inside was two fixed shelves.

The old cabinet

Here's the new one!

Shaving off some wood so it fits in the bathroom

The new one even comes with adjustable shelves.  Floyd thought of everything!

My favorite part is the bottom shelf area!  Gets everything off the very small counter space!

While I'm mentioning Floyd, here is his sweet wife, Joyce.  A real nice couple from Iowa.  We hope they will be back next year.

This covers some of our activities and projects at SACH.  Next time I'll show the greenhouse.