VA VETERANS’ CLASSES AND CLASS #3 HIGHLIGHTS
by Mary Sedgwick
A GIGANTIC THANKS TO ALL OUR WOODCHUCK VOLUNTEERS! JOB WELL DONE!
RECAP:
Since January 2023, Nevada Woodchucks has had 6 Veteran’s Classes: 3 trial classes and 3 veterans’ classes.
- The selection of students for the trial classes is predicated on them having little to no woodworking experience. Thus far, trial students included VA Hospital employees, veterans, members from a veterans’ honor guard, and woodchuck members.
- Students in the veterans’ classes are veterans in the VA Recreational Therapy Program. This VA program offers a variety of activities for veterans such as guitar lessons, bowling, golf, adaptive winter sports, painting, photography, creative writing, kit making, leather tooling, yoga, walking, summer military sports camp, fitness center membership and coaching, cooking, biking, and now woodworking. This is an extensive list and is probably missing more activities.
- The 3 classes were: a keepsake box (January), a desk clock with 2 picture frames (February), and a variety of cutting boards with a bread basket (March and April due to snow).
Our cadre of Woodchuck volunteers are definitely super stars! We have been so fortunate to have more woodchucks than students for each class which translates to having one-to-one mentorship of students and extra help running each station. With this level of superb mentorship, every student left with a completed project and a smile on their face! As for smiles, it surely seems that our Woodchuck volunteers have been enjoying their experience as much as our students.
From January through April 2023, 6 classes have been completed and our Woodchuck cadre have logged in 285 volunteer hours. At $29.95, this means the Woodchucks in-kind contribution was $8,535.75. Wow! In-kind contributions are extremely important for our grants. These totals do not include the numerous hours our members spent last December on the VA Hospital screening.
CLASS #3:
During class #3, students made a charcuterie board with an inset pottery bowl (from Dale Pappas). They also made a rustic style cutting board, a butter board and 3 small butter knives. For homework, students received the laser cut pieces to construct a bread basket.
Check out these pictures from Class #3!!!
VA Class 3 Photos