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MLK volunteers tidy Piano Hospital

By Katie Gillespie, Columbian Education Reporter
Published: January 16, 2017, 4:15pm
6 Photos
Volunteers Stacey Hewitt, left, and Dawana Sadler of Kaiser Permanente help dust and clean windows Monday morning at the School of Piano Technology for the Blind in Vancouver.
Volunteers Stacey Hewitt, left, and Dawana Sadler of Kaiser Permanente help dust and clean windows Monday morning at the School of Piano Technology for the Blind in Vancouver. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Gordon Hewitt bustled around the School of Piano Technology for the Blind on Monday, directing a team of volunteers busy cleaning, painting, repairing drywall and rewiring electric circuits.

This is the fifth year a crew from Kaiser Permanente has volunteered at the Vancouver school, commonly called the Piano Hospital, in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?” King famously said, prompting the federal government to officially recognize the day as a day of service since President Bill Clinton signed the King Holiday and Service Act into law in 1994. Schools and businesses across the county facilitate service projects in recognition of the holiday.

Hewitt, who works in Kaiser Permanente’s facilities and maintenance department, has been leading volunteers for two years.

“It’s significant for us to give ourselves and volunteer for those people who need help,” Hewitt said in between giving instruction to one of the 12 volunteers working Monday. “We do what we can to help people.”

Volunteers worked from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with pizza and coffee provided by nearby Blind Onion and Paper Tiger to fuel their efforts.

Cheri Martin, the school’s executive director, is grateful for the efforts of volunteers. School staff are often too busy to get these projects done, and, she adds, because most of the day of service volunteers come from Kaiser’s facilities department, “they know what they’re doing.”

“It’s amazing what they can get done in six hours,” she said.

Aimee Clark, a phlebotomist at the Kaiser Salmon Creek Medical Office, wiped a display of photos showing the school’s graduates over the years.

Clark first found out this year that Kaiser offers volunteer opportunities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and said it was important for her to spend her time volunteering. Clark said she would never have known Vancouver has a piano technology school for blind students otherwise.

“It gives you a fresh look at what’s out there,” she said.

Gordon Hewitt’s wife, Stacey Hewitt, dusted off pianos and displays showing the inner mechanisms of piano keys.

Stacey Hewitt, a worker’s compensation collector, called the volunteer project a “great opportunity” to honor King’s legacy.

“It’s an important cause, to remember what he stood for,” she said. “It would be nice if people would volunteer more regularly.”

Though volunteers braved the snow and ice to attend Monday’s event, the past week’s winter weather did stop some events commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Saturday’s Annual Dr. King Breakfast Celebration was canceled to be rescheduled for February, and a trail workday at Whipple Creek Regional Park was rescheduled for Jan. 21. A beach cleanup also had to be postponed.

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Columbian Education Reporter