GREENVILLE – The Light Foundation Camp Vohokase Leadership Academy was in the city park Monday afternoon, cleaning up around the band shell in preparation for the upcoming weekend band concert at the band shell in the city park.
“One of the focuses of this camp is community service,” said Matt Light. “We have tenets we live by in this camp. Some things will serve you well in life, like community service projects, career education tours, and camp projects.”
“Every year, the Light Foundation calls for a Camp Vohokase project,” said Greenville Safety Service Director Ryan Delk. “They have done many projects in the park for us, from mulching playgrounds to cleaning up. This year, they wanted to be involved in the tornado cleanup. Today, they cleaned up around the band shell because we have the first concert over the 4th of July weekend. We are working to get it ready so we can have the concert. They keep busy.”
“The idea of a community service project is to sacrifice something, whether it’s your time or resources, and try to make someone else’s life easier, make their life better, take something off their plate, and in this case, we had the opportunity to work with Mr. Delk and come out to the park where there’s a lot that needs to be done,” said Light. “These young men first get to see what happens when a disaster hits. They’re not from places that typically see tornados and the effects of tornados, so they were very shocked to see what happened here in the Greenville Park area and Darke County, but more than that, they were able to lend a hand in picking up the area around the band shelter.”
“The guys know there is a concert coming up on Sunday, and they were able to leave there with a sense of satisfaction knowing they helped make this place safer in terms of getting around to fill in some holes from trees where the stumps have been ground out,” Light added. “It’s cool to have these kids have that sense of accomplishment but know their time was well spent and they worked hard.”
“The fact that they came here for the day to help us is a tremendous help,” said Greenville Mayor Jeff Whitaker. “Thanks to Matt Light, Troy Eden, and everybody else for spending the day out here at the park and helping get more of it cleaned.”
When the day’s work at the park was completed, the campers went for an hour-long swim in the city park swimming pool to take a much-needed break and cool off.
“We’re here at the park swimming pool now to give them a little reward and let them have some fun,” Light concluded. “They’re having more fun than ever.”