As my father always tells me, there’s never enough time in the day.

As busy and convoluted as our lives can become, some people find the time to volunteer.

Covering a story for the News-Herald, I was, once again, reminded of the importance of service.

At the Cleveland Sight Center & Highbrook Lodge, several Chardon High School students rolled up their sleeves and began cleaning up the nonprofit organization’s Chardon campus.

Let me be clear. This was not easy work.

Students did everything from raking, hauling mulch, constructing wooden beds, scraping and painting. I almost chuckled a few times when I saw a trio of students painting some metal law furniture.

At one point, I could swear they had more paint on themselves than on the furniture.

Despite the intensive work, most of the students had a smile on their face. The volunteer work was optional since many students could have chosen to stay at home during the district's waiver day.

One of the organizers behind the Chardon High School Club Service Day was Scott Brown, a high school math teacher and advisor to the Interact Club.

The Interact Club is a high school affiliate of the Rotary Club. Aside from Interact Club members, student volunteers came from the school’s student council and National Honor Society.

All told there were at least 180 student volunteers. Even some Chardon Schools administrators stopped out to help out later in the day.

With just one maintenance worker covering more than 60 acres, Brown said it’s difficult for him to get everything done.

Imagine spending eight hours a day repairing buildings and providing other maintenance work and yet never quite catching up.

According to one Cleveland Sight Center employee, this one day of service is the equivalent of almost two months of work by one maintenance worker.

Brown said he hopes this is something they can continuing doing in the future.

“There’s so many things that need to be done. Don’t wait for someone else to do it,” Brown said.

-Jacob Lammers
JLammers@News-Herald.com