Having arrived in Salt Lake City, it was time to celebrate a partnership with KT Tape, one of the principal sponsors of the Fuller Centre for Housing. KT Tape is a sports tape applied along muscles, ligaments and tendons to provide lightweight support that helps athletes remain active while recovering from injuries or during sports participation.
Today was a 'Build Day' and the Fuller Center team were split into 3 groups to work alongside staff from KT Tape, local churches and other Fuller Center sponsors on 3 separate properties. I was asked to work on Gail's home which was in need of extensive yard work (gardening) and decoration. I was asked to lead a group responsible for forming a new driveway for Gail's car to the side of property and I have the great privilege of working alongside Greg Venner, CEO and President, of KT Tape, along with a number of his staff. It was also great to work with a couple of guys called Tim and Bruce, so easy to remember their names!! Tim brought his chain saw and family and helped clear some excessive growth in and around the garden. Bruce, and a young lad called Phil, worked alongside me to help clear the ground and form the new driveway, then everyone joined in to pour the gravel.
This was a great day to celebrate the work of 'community' as separate faiths and/or belief systems were set aside for the benefit of building a stronger society, particularly for these three households. If this example were to be replicated time and time again then many of the issues we face across the world would be simply washed away. It was a wonderful, powerful expression of love for fellow mankind to see everyone working together. We achieved so much in such a short time. Yes, it was hard work to shift all the gravel that was delivered but shoulder to shoulder, we shifted it and a new driveway was created. What would society look like if this were to happen as part of 'business as usual' rather than a specific event??! Count me in please!!!
One of the most touching aspects of the build was for Gail's son, Levi, who had a basketball hoop in his garden but it had long since been lost to the undergrowth. We did not know it was there when we started but by the end of the day we had cleared the space around it and someone had been to Walmart to buy a new net for it and Levi and Jeff Bracken were playing together. It was a glorious scene to behold!
After the build work was finished we were invited back to the offices of KT Tape and Greg took us on a tour of the facilities. It was impressive to see all the different American sports associations who had bought into the use of KT Tape to, literally, support their athletes, including the USA Olympic Team. (Such a shame not to see any British or UK associations up there too!) There were also some specific athletes who were sponsered by KT Tape and we were to meet some of them the following day.
I felt humbled and proud of everything I had seen and experienced today and, oh, that we could do this again and again!!
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