Wet weather doesn’t scare off community work day volunteers

ALBANY — Wet, threatening weather did little to dampen the enthusiasm of some 30 to 40 volunteers who came to the Thornton Gym Saturday to take part in a community work day.

Volunteers, many from the local Boys and Girls Clubs, cleaned the inside of the gymnasium, collected debris from the grounds around the recreation facility and took down chain-link fence at the venerable complex, which will be the home of a new pool/splash park currently under construction.

“Yes, this is an infrastructure project, but its a project with directed benefits for our youth,” said City Manager Sharon Subadan, decked out in jeans and a stars-and-stripes bandanna for the work day. “This is not necessarily the best day to have a community work day, but there are things we’ll get done today that will help with moving the project forward.

“Getting the community involved is an important part of this process because this is the community’s facility. Getting physically involved allows our community to take ownership.”

Albany Boys & Girls Clubs CEO Marvin Laster said the facility, which will be called the Club at Thornton Park, will serve as a beacon for youngsters looking for positive pursuits.

“We expect as many as 200 students to get involved in our after-school programs, and I won’t be surprised to see between 400 and 500 students a day here during the summer,” Laster said. “Of course, this will be a joint partnership between the Boys and Girls Clubs and the city’s Recreation Department, so the facilities will be available to the public.

“It’s important for us to provide volunteer opportunities like today so that members of our community can be a part of this process. When things are finished, we want them to look on the facility with pride and say, ‘I had a part in this.’ We intend to have a wall within the facility where volunteers will put their hands in paint and put handprints on the wall. That way, their fingerprints will literally be on this project.”

Jacqueline Robinson, the Boys and Girls Club’s director of programs and outcome measurements, said she was excited to see several regulars from the club at Saturday’s work day.

“This is just a wonderful opportunity for these kids, a chance for them to give back to a program that has had meaning in their lives,” Robinson said. “They’re helping meet needs that will make their community better.”

Albany Fire Department Chief Ron Rowe was also on hand for Saturday’s community work day. He said AFD volunteers had helped paint the inside of Thornton Gym and framed up the walls on what was the balcony of the facility.

“We allow some of our folks who have certain skills to rotate in and out to work on the project during their shifts,” Rowe said. “It allows our personnel to give back to a city that’s given so much to them.

Laster said more community work days will be planned at the facility in the future. Subadan said those who cannot come to the site to pitch in can sponsor programs at the Boys and Girls Clubs or help provide materials needed for day-to-day activities.