Hands On Richmond

Hello and Happy Weekend-ing!

I am sad it is already Sunday but wanted to share with you a fun event I participated in yesterday.

Friday night was homecoming at my school, so after a fun day at work (including a pep rally), I worked the football game with a bunch of coworkers and got to enjoy a little bit of time out at a new bar in the Richmond area, Viceroy. Due to my early morning on Saturday, I kept my socializing light and was home and in bed by 11:30.

Coworkers loving a little school spirit at the pep rally!

Yesterday morning, after a quick 3 mile run (I find that the day after I have a lot of carbs, it feels really good to run), I volunteered at "Hands on Richmond" day from 9-1 with a team of friends at The Virginia Home, a home for adults with physical disabilities. This day is a city-wide day of supporting local organizations through volunteering. The place my group was assigned is located along the beautiful lakes at Byrd Park. While there, we worked on creating a garden for the residents that they can access with wheelchairs. We pulled weeds, raked, trimmed and cleared plants (I worked out a lot of aggression with garden sheers!), and built a raised garden bed (the boys did that, let's be honest).

The team bright and early, ready to go!

Outside in the garden area with one of the residents.

It was very nice to give back to the community in a city-wide event and learn about The Virginia Home. It is a great facility doing a lot of good for it's residents.

The day also involved food and booze for the volunteers afterwards at Hardywood, a local brewery that hosted the "after-party" for everyone. My group ate tacos at a food truck and got to enjoy Ukrops cupcakes and Starbucks treats from sponsors! I ran into many other friends there and even met two current and former NBC12 anchors, which are like my version of local celebrities.

To cap off a very "Richmond Community" weekend, I then ventured to Ellwood Thompsons local grocery with some friends to become even more educated on keeping my eating and kitchen clean to hopefully stabilize this crazy mood I have been in this week! And then I watched Ohio State win and Florida State crush Clemson with some friends. Can't end the day in a more American way, right?

This morning, after an almost 10-hour slumber, I appreciated the beauty of Richmond with a 5 mile run. It doesn't get much better than Richmond on a fall morning, especially knowing I helped our community yesterday.

I hope you were able to give back some this weekend, and if you didn't, be sure to look for local events coming up in your own community!