Last week, we were blessed to have a pair of amazing volunteer groups come out to help with a big project around the Barn! The upper barn we recently acquired is actually the oldest barn on the property, and as a result requires a bit of renovation. This includes making sure all of the stall floors are smooth and even. So on Monday, Leeds High School’s Key Club came out to help move out stall mats and level the stall floors in the upper barn. And on Saturday, UAB’s chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the National Pre-Health Honor Society, assisted us in finishing prepping half of those stalls for horses.
About 30 or so kids came out with the LHS Key Club, and we needed every pair of hands to help move the stall mats. Typically it takes about four people, one per corner, to lift and carry the mats. We ended up hauling the mats outside of the upper barn and laying them in the grass so they could be washed. Once that was taken care of, we set out raking and tamping the mud in each stall until they were as even as we could make them without adding more dirt.
The UAB AED group brought around 20 volunteers with them. With the stall mats out, we were able to shovel in dirt to fill all the dips and holes. We then added a layer of crush and run on top of the dirt and raked it smooth. Both groups worked so hard that they finished earlier than expected. The extra time allowed for them to meet all of our horses and even get some quality time with the goats.
We can’t stress enough how much we appreciate their hard work and how important having these volunteer groups out is to the Barn. Having the help of 50 extra people enables us to tackle bigger projects. This would have taken weeks to accomplish with just our staff alone. Thank you so much to both LHS and UAB, and we look forward to working alongside y’all in the future!
-Connor