My daughters and I have been involved in several RAKE projects over the last couple of years.I was so profoundly moved by the whole experience. The awesome sense of community that is present as you meet with other team leaders is powerful. These guys really know how to run these various projects that are set up for the week.. Much is accomplished every time but they never lose sight of the main objective. To help underprivileged people in our community and let the teenagers experience that first hand by letting them be fully involved. To help somebody who has less than you is just good medicine for the soul but when you can introduce a young person to this kind of giving . You know that something very good is going on. So here you are repairing something for someone who in all likely hood could never afford to have it done and the teen agers are really doing most of the repair work. Then you have this awesome window of opportunity to enter into somebody's life and share some time with them. We did a ceiling repair for an elderly man in a run down trailer . His name was Bill. Now the actual repair just need 3 of us to remove the damaged ceiling. So the others of our team three 8th grade girls ended up sitting and chatting with Bill for almost 2 hours.You could see so clearly that Bill was delighted with their company and the girls would later say how lonely Bill was and how good it felt to spend time with him. Project RAKE not only repairs peoples houses but the RAKE teams give the homeowners a sense of dignity and respect. When it is all said and done I truly feel that I have been shown a radom act of kindness . What so ever you do to the least of my brothers that you do unto Me, Joe Cavanaugh
Project RAKE is a foundation that helps those who cannot help themselves. I have participated in project RAKE for several years working on projects ranging from new roofs to wheel chair ramps to electrical and plumbing. One particular project that stood out in my mind was building a wheel chair ramp for an elderly man who could not leave his house. The work and learning how to build a ramp was an amazing time, but watching him leave his house and the look on his face when he came out was such an amazing moment. Project Rake has helped so many people with no where to turn and teaches teenagers how to serve the community in a real way.
My review of Project RAKE is that it is the most wonderful volunteer effort in our area. Both of my sons have worked on RAKE projects and it was literally a life changing experience. My husband and I have helped with the food preparation for the volunteers and it was wonderful to see the lives of the volunteers and also the homeowners transform in this process.