PUBLISHED BY MOSHOLU PRESERVATION CORPORATION

Southern Helping Hands Give MS 80 Makeover

By MIRANDA KAPLAN

As an active MS 80 parent, Hermes Caraballo keeps on the lookout for resources to improve the Norwood school and the community around it. So when he learned of New Hope New York, an arm of the North American Mission Board, that assembles troops of volunteers for service projects across the city, he was quick to find out more.

The fruits of his research began to arrive this June, and are still coming. They take the form of roughly 200 pairs of willing hands -  mostly from the south -  armed with paint cans, roller brushes, and big plans to brighten up the school's hallways and classrooms.

"We think it's pretty miraculous, what's going on here," said Laura Spalter, MS 80's Social Studies coordinator, as she surveyed a freshly applied coat in the fifth floor hallway. "It's going to be a lot cheerier in here."

MS 80 principal Lovey Rivera echoed the sentiment. "I really appreciate all the work they did," she said. "It's no cost to the city, no cost to the school. All they wanted to do is ensure that the kids have a really nice environment to learn in."

Formed in 1997, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) headquartered near Atlanta, Georgia, represents the combined forces of three agencies of the Southern Baptist Convention. One of the many functions of NAMB is organizing Southern Baptists across the nation to travel to urban areas and participate in restoration projects. Volunteers raise funds for any needed materials, cover their own travel expenses and sleep in nearby churches.

New Hope New York (NHNY), a NAMB initiative that sprang from a collective desire to aid New York and its citizens shortly after 9/11, typically directs its volunteers' energies into rebuilding churches or other church-related activities. Recently, however, NHNY began to broaden the scope of its work to include secular establishments.  

Randy Creamer, a volunteer mobilizer for NAMB, acknowledged that, post-9/11, "we are getting more and more involved in getting individual families to rebuild following disasters." But the MS 80 project is a turning point, the first public school in New York City to welcome a team of NHNY volunteers. 

"Part of their mission is to do tangible work, ˆ la New York Cares or Habitat for 
Humanity," said Caraballo. "Nobody's proselytizingÉ It's their way of showing their love of God, by doing something."

The repainting job at MS 80, to be completed at the end of August, is just the first of a series of ways in which New York will benefit from the kindness of these relative strangers. Among NHNY's future plans for the city are sponsoring sports clinics and adopting libraries, and, according to Caraballo, the organization hopes to improve 25 to 30 more New York schools within the next five years. "[MS 80] is not the last, it's the first. It's gonna be a prototype," he said.

Despite demanding workdays, beginning at 8 a.m. and ending around 5 p.m., a sense of genuine purpose keeps spirits high in the rotating groups of volunteers. "We feel called to help other people," said Dean Edmonson of Utica, Kentucky. "We're gonna be tired, but it's a good tired."

Edmonson came to New York with his wife Lee Ann and children Joshua, 13, and Marley, 11. They feel richly rewarded for their efforts, both by the knowledge of their gift to the city and by the exceptionally warm reception they've had from New Yorkers. "Everybody's been more than helpful," Edmonson said.

Creamer agreed. "It's a very positive experience," he said. "We find a certain degree of courtesy that we just don't find in the South -  as long as they're not behind the wheel of a car."

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