A Relay of Love: The Songbird Takes on the Rakes

On the bright and early morning on November 26th, the Songbird, a local youth volunteer group, helped to rake the leaves of a house in the Basking Ridge local area. Since last week, the Songbird dedicated their Thanksgiving break to spreading the love of music and contributing to the community. It was just two days before when the Songbird served food and performed for visitors at the Plainfield Church.

In total, ten members and eight adults participated. The owner of the house is Norma Giacobbe, a ninety-seven year old woman. Before the service, the Songbird visited her house, in order to get to know her better. Norma has lived in Basking Ridge for an extremely long time. Despite her age, she has a zest for life and wisdom that enlightened all of the members. Ultimately, what drew the Songbird in was her positive attitude, along with her warm personality.

Once the Songbird was at Meadow View Road, they began to unpack the abundant supplies that they packed in preparation for the service, from leaf blowers to rakes. Some members carried leaf blowers on their backs, while others used their hands to pick up the leaves on a tarp. Every member contributed, rakes busy gathering leaves into piles to be dumped into the woods.

Although the weather was extremely cold, it was the collaborative effort that allowed the Songbird to be finished in such a brief time, cleaning the leaves of an entire acre of land in under two hours. In the midst of the chilly breeze, the Songbird did not view the weather as a hindrance. Instead, their undying love for assisting others and acts of kindness warmed their hearts, as well as the hearts of Norma and her family.

After all of the leaves were tossed in the woods and the land was finally clean, the Songbird gathered in the front of the yard once again. They had warm lemon tea and chocolates, gifted by Norma’s daughter. Sharing these hot drinks after the leaves raking only served to bring the group closer to helping those in Basking Ridge.

In the end, the backyard of the house was clean, just like the hearts of the Songbird after the service. In fact, the Songbird believed that giving back to others was the most beautiful part of the Thanksgiving break; the leaves sweeping was the best holiday blessing that the Songbird could have ever given Norma. The Songbird hopes that they can continue the tradition of sweeping leaves every year, and celebrate Norma’s one hundredth birthday alongside her. In the end, it is the deeds out of love that allow the Songbird to sing it’s song of gratitude.