This blog-spot showcases our favorite group of volunteers, LifeSong Inc. We are so blessed by the relationship we have with them, and by the amazing volunteer work that they accomplish at our school.
An Organized Space is a Happy Place! 3.24.23
Whenever LifeSong volunteers are here, they bring a pocket of sunshine with them, with their cheerful, helpful and positive manners. We are so lucky to have their partnership. Recently, they helped us organize teacher resources in our Staff Room. What was once a disorganized mess, now is neat, tidy and ready for team members to use.
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Work Readiness! 3.7.23
We’ve been doubly blessed by the LifeSong program lately. J is a young man who is getting ready for employment, and has been coming in weekly to work on a variety of tasks, including copying, laminating, filing, distributing, updating iPads with apps wanted by team members, creating a list of machines in each room, and more. He is a wonderful guy who, in addition to being skilled and efficient, is fun-loving and has some interesting interests, such as The Walking Dead, and The Last of Us shows, and the Yankees. We enjoy having him here for one more week!
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Decorating, Organizing and Delivering! 2.8.23
The LifeSong crew always gets so much done for us. They are truly amazing. Today they strung up the art from our Festival of Trees Christmas tree, the one we decorated with The Hungry Caterpillar art work. It looks amazing, and gives the students a new visual to talk about to teachers. They also wiped down our donated iPads with soft cleaning cloths, and made them look shiny and new. They sorted out the huge pile of construction paper by colors, making it easier for teachers to grab what they need. They delivered stock supplies to classrooms, AND straightened up our supply room.
What we would ever do without these wonderful people, we hope we never have to find out!
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- The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Air Purifiers! 12.21.22
We are always thankful to our LifeSong volunteers, and sometimes we are able to share with you what they’ve been working on here. Today, they unpacked a slew of brand new air purifiers which were kindly given to us by the Schenectady County Health Department. Then they delivered them and even brought the boxes – which were quite large – outside to the dumpster. Each classroom and a few other spaces now have an air purifier to help keep us healthy and strong, and we are truly grateful for the work of this sweet and hardworking crew.
Refacing a Fridge! 9.29.22
We have a new fridge! At least in looks!
Thanks to our LifeSong crew for painting the refrigerator to make it look like new! It is a chalk paint meant to cover up marker and crayon marks made by children over the years. It took 3 coats and almost a whole school day, but it looks terrific!
Trimming off the sharp stuff! 9.15.22
We got to catch up with our outside crew this week! They have been keeping our gardens weeded and gorgeous all summer long, as well as adding mulch to the playground and garden beds, and even clipping back sharp branches off the trees. We are so very grateful for all of the LifeSong friends, including A (not pictured) who does not like to appear in photos, but is always working hard and getting jobs done. THANK YOU!
Painting Perfection! 8.31.22
We are constantly amazed by the help of our LifeSong volunteers, and today was extraordinarily amazing. Helping get the rooms ready for fall, several teachers have embarked on painting their classrooms. Today, LifeSong helped with the task of painting. Wow, what a difference a coat of paint makes!
LifeSong is Awesome, Inside and Out 7.7.22
The two LifeSong groups that volunteer at Crossroads are lovingly known here as LifeSong Inside, and LifeSong Outside, making reference to their respective areas of expertise and focus.
The Inside Group comes all year, helping with everything from organizing and tidying, to mailing, to delivering, and whatever else arises. The Outside Group comes in summer, and specializes in landscaping.
Yesterday, the landscapers working outdoors came bearing gifts. They planted the beautiful plants you see in the butterfly garden, and then proceeded to weed a large area of the vegetable garden and the butterfly garden.
Meanwhile, LifeSong Inside worked on reorganizing the library, getting it ready for students to return next week.
Both areas look absolutely amazing!
5.25.22 LifeSong’s Landscapers
Recently, we were thrilled to welcome back LifeSong’s landscaping group. They will work on jobs like keeping the mulch in good play shape, and keeping our gardens in order.
Today they planted the seedlings that were still in pots, the ones we planted with DEC during Earth Week. They also added mulch under the swings, straightened our Bender’s Butterfly Science Garden sign, and weeded around the lilac shrubs, all things that needed TLC.
HFP Deliverers 3.16.22
As you know, we order food each week from Capital Roots for our students to try new healthy foods, and impact on their healthy eating in our Healthy Food Program (HFP). LifeSong volunteers get the items together and distribute them to the classrooms to work with. Here’s this week’s volunteers getting ready for their delivery of yellow apples, which were very large!
Copy Machine Warriors. 3.11.22
We delight in singing the praises of LifeSong. They are, in fact, lifesavers to us, doing so many tasks and helping so many people. The group volunteers here every Wednesday morning, and their projects include veggie deliveries, supply deliveries, organizing and neatening, copying, laminating…the list goes on and on. Here is this week’s crew helping to make multiple packets of copies for a staff training. We appreciate them all very much!
Carrots Anyone? 10.28.21
One of the tasks that LifeSong has been doing each week is sorting out our fruits and veggies and delivering them to the classrooms for Healthy Food Program. Today’s crew sorted out a bulk order of carrots, bagged and delivered them to all of the classrooms.
Additionally, they rotated some hallway posters, labeled CLYNK bags, shelved supplies, and numerically ordered the bidding paddles from Saturday’s gala! We’d be so disorganized without the help of these kind and hard-working volunteers!
10.6.21 Ornament Assistance
After 2 years of not using our “gym” as a gym, due to broken ceiling tiles and then Covid necessitating reallocations of space for distancing, we are finally getting this room prepared as a motor space once again.
The LifeSong group spent time in here today making room for running and riding, putting equipment away in the cabinets that the Carlilian Foundation grant provided us with, and picking toys off the floor and organizing them into piles to be dealt with next week. There’s more to be done, but we’re excited to be able to have the room back again for purposes of physical activity.
LifeSong volunteers also distributed cleaning and paper supplies, and bananas for Healthy Food Program to classrooms, and worked on our ornaments for the upcoming Gala. This is how they are pictured here, after tying ribbons on the puzzle piece ornaments that were painted and colored by students with OT, laminated and glittered by Kathleen and Marjorie, and will be given to attendees on 10/23.
Thank you LifeSong! We are blessed by your involvement with our school!
9.22.21 Apple Delivery!
Another huge shout out to our LifeSong friends for all they do here! Today the group counted, sorted, and delivered our Healthy Food Program apples to all of the classrooms, something that would be very time-consuming for the teachers to do. They also brought supplies and paper goods to the classrooms from an order form that team members can fill out, and then they organized many of the buckets, shelves, and drawers in our art supplies. We are so very grateful for their help every week!
9.9.21 Picnic Tables are Painted!
Two of five raw wood picnic tables are now painted, with the others slotted for future dates before the end of fall. A million thanks to our LifeSong volunteers for their careful and thorough work.
The five tables were donated at the start of Spring by the family of a student, who saw our Wish List and wanted to help. Having outdoor tables was fantastic all spring, summer and now into fall, as staff and students can head outdoors for eating and other table activities. We got so much use of them, and this was just the first year.
In order to keep the tables in good shape for many years, we need to maintain them, and without a maintenance department here at Crossroads, work like this falls on staff and volunteers. This task is something the LifeSong crew early on said they would love to do, but every week on their day, weather prohibited painting; it was always rainy or hot. Yesterday, though, was a perfect morning, and they completed two of the tables, cleaning up professionally when done.
We are so very thankful!
7.7.21 WELCOME BACK LIFESONG!
After many very long months, we are thrilled to welcome back our friends from LifeSong, Inc! After going through a bit of orientation, they started up again last week, straightening the library, shelving paper goods and supplies, and neatening the art supplies. Today’s work was outdoors: getting the water-play supplies cleaned up and ready, putting new sand in the sandbox, and removing weeds and clumps of grass from the play area.
We are so very happy to have the help of these kind and wonderful people. This blog spot will be updated from time to time to showcase their fine work for you.
3.30.2020
LifeSong volunteers, we miss you!
So much has happened since the last time this post was updated, including school closure due the COVID-19 virus. But the last time this group of friends was with us at Crossroads, they put together our new basketball hoops from Special Olympics Young Athletes. Not only that but they delivered the hoops to the gym via the elevator!
Naturally, this industrious crew had several other jobs to do too, but this one was pretty special and the kids began enjoying the hoops the very same day!
2.20.20 Woohoo for LifeSong!
Our Library looks amazing (all neat, tidy and organized) and our Gala invitations are ready for the mail! We are forever grateful for all of the wonderful help the crew from LifeSong gives us each week.
2.3.2020
Thanks to our LifeSong volunteers, another 100 CLYNK bags are labeled and ready for our community to use for recycling! Thanks, too, for organizing and shelving paper-good supplies that have come in, delivering to classrooms, and going through board games and puzzles to help us discard ones that are damaged or missing pieces. We appreciate you more than words can say!
1.14.2020 Your help with the GALA MAILING was greatly appreciated!
Our 2020 GALA is in the works! With the help of our LifeSong volunteers we were able to get out the mailing for inviting sponsors, honorary committee members, advertisers and auction donors last week. We are gradually moving towards paperless communication as much as possible, but there are still lots of supporters who prefer to receive information by mail. There are so many steps and pieces with this process and so having help from this beloved crew was phenomenal and greatly appreciated.
12.19.19 LifeSong, we adore you!
Today, our volunteers from LifeSong helped organize the supplies that have come in recently. Unpacking boxes of paper towels, plates, plastic ware, and so on, and putting it onto the beautiful new shelves that Regeneron gave us back in October, they were able to bring order to the supply room and allow us to find items more easily. They also put labels on a multitude of CLYNK bags, so they will be ready for folks who want to help collect bottles and cans for our school. Making photocopies and delivering items to the classrooms that were requested was also on their itinerary today. We can’t express enough how wonderful these folks are and how much they contribute!
12.12.19 Making Paint Stirrer Snowmen with LifeSong
Today our volunteers from LifeSong helped the classrooms make an adorable craft project! We were fortunate to have 100 paint stirrers donated by Lowe’s of Glenville! The group helped the students adorn the sticks with noses, hats, scarves, buttons and eyes. The children loved their projects and working with the individuals from this special group is always a great time!
12.5.19 Click the link below to learn about the activities of other volunteers are doing here at Crossroads!
More about LifeSong volunteers!
11.21.19 Thanks to our volunteers, our materials closets are in tip top condition.
They went through puzzles and sorted out the ones missing pieces for us to discard, and the ones for us to go through later to see if they are intact or not. They also brought all of the big toys into a larger storage room, and put the games in order, similarly to their work on the puzzles.
We wish everyone at LifeSong a very Happy Thanksgiving! We are so thankful for your involvement here.
11.15.19
We enjoy having our volunteers from LifeSong here each week so very much. They contribute a great deal to our environment and are always enthusiastic and kind. Here are some recent pictures of the crew helping us. This week’s group worked on labeling CLYNK bags, gathering and organizing some toys to sell at our garage sale table, laminating, delivering supplies to classrooms, and making copies.
LifeSong, you are awesome!
10.24.19
Mulch is unpacked from car, ready to go for our Playground cleanup tomorrow. Just one of the many tasks our LifeSong volunteers helped with this week! Thank you!
10.16.19 A zillion thanks for your wonderful help.
Fall marks the end of mulching and gardening season, and our outside crew from LifeSong said goodbye today. We are IMMENSELY thankful for all of the work they’ve done on our grounds these past several months. We can’t wait to see you all again in the spring. We’re happy some of you will still be coming with the inside crew. 
Many thanks, too, to our inside crew who has been absolutely wonderful. We’re soooooo lucky to have you all here!
10.7.19
Thanks to LifeSong volunteers, our physical spaces are so much more organized. The raised garden beds are all spruced back and ready for winter. The sidewalk planters are weeded and under control.
Thank you, too, for putting up storage hooks for our Physical Education supplies and bouncy balls, and for helping to make everything neat and in its place.
10.1.19
When LifeSong is here at the school, so many things get accomplished. Things like cutting back our raised garden beds in preparation for the coming cold weather. Things like supplies being delivered to the classrooms, and our library being straightened and organized, and mailings being prepared.
We are blessed to have these individuals with us!
Many thanks to all, and a special thanks and best wishes to “D” for her time with us, as she moves on to a new aspect of her programming! We’re so excited for you!
9.6.19
This week, volunteers from LifeSong spruced up the mulch on the playground and helped put the end of the summer toys away for the cold weather. They also fixed our bike shed door which had fallen off its track for a while. Inside, we were thankful for the help with tidying up our library and storing books neatly, which can be challenging with little hands. Finally, a huge thanks for copying and framing some of our raffle items for Monday’s Golf Tournament. We are so lucky to have these kind and hard-working people helping us here at Crossroads.
8.30.19 Painted walls, mulched playground, golf tournament gifts, and another beautifully cleaned fridge.
It’s summer break and that means a LOT of cleaning is going on at school. Cleaning and painting! Thanks to our friends from LifeSong for helping teachers paint classrooms, and for cleaning the fridge in the staff room – they report that it was pretty gross!
Thanks too for all of the mulching and for bringing our shipment of new Special Olympics materials to the gym! Not only all of that, but also for helping put together a special gift for our Golf Tournament golfers! You are all the best!
8.20.19 A welcoming front yard.
There’s more than meets the eye when getting ready for our Graduation and Achievements Celebrations. Last week our outside crew from LifeSong helped us make our walkway beautiful by weeding the flower bed that was out of control with hefty weeds and grass. They weeded and planted flowers and made it a pleasing sight to welcome all of our guests for the celebrations.
Then the very next day, the inside crew worked on organizing our Art supplies in our supply room. They also delivered paper goods and supplies to classrooms, cleaned the student freezer, and put books away in our library. LifeSong you are wonderful! We appreciate you more than words can ever say!
8.9.19 Red tomatoes, Orange tires, and a Clean fridge.
Hard workers with inspiring levels of enthusiasm, our friends from LifeSong come each week and make a difference. Whether inside or out, things are getting done that we’ve struggled to keep up with for many years.
This week, Chris and the outside crew that comes on Wednesdays got down and dirty in the raised garden beds, uncovering the tomato plants that were planted by classrooms in the spring but had gotten covered up by weeds that were out of control.
On Thursday, Danielle’s group tackled the student refrigerator which had gotten a bit sticky, and also spray painted orange some donated tires so that we can use them as safety “cones.”
Everyone at LifeSong, if you’re reading this, please know how very much we appreciate you.
8.1.19 Thank you very MULCH!
The playground mulch maintenance is a big job, and we’re so thankful to our LifeSong outside crew for keeping up with it all summer. This is the first year we’ve had help, and it is absolutely cherished. Yesterday’s crew weeded around the swing-set and play unit. The weeds out there are monsters and eat up the mulch ferociously, so this task is not an easy one. Thank you, LifeSong volunteers! We appreciate you!
7.25.19 Thanks so much to our friends from LifeSong!
This week’s Wednesday crew repainted our pavilion picnic tables! They hadn’t been painted for several years and were chipping and faded. Now they look awesome. Unfortunately we didn’t get pictures of them working. Nonetheless we are very grateful for the spruce-up!
This week’s Thursday crew delivered supplies around the building, and then tackled a big project of moving a book shelf unit and all of its books from a supply room to the staff room. They began to organize the books, too. This will help consolidate all of the resource books for staff members into one easy-to-find setting, making it easier to find what’s wanted quickly and efficiently. It also frees up some space in the supply room for storage and easy access.
We are so thankful for all this wonderful help, and for the sweet spirits that give their time and hard work so kindly.
WE LOVE OUR VOLUNTEERS!
7.11.19 LifeSong volunteers are lifeSAVERS!
From delivering new materials to the classrooms, to moving heavy items, the people who come from LifeSong to help us at our school do an awesome job. Today they also labeled CLYNK bags and organized in the library. Yesterday’s crew worked on mulch maintenance on the playground, sand removal from the back stairway, and some weeding in our raised garden beds. We are truly thankful for the help of this wonderful organization.
7.3.19 LifeSong volunteers, thank you for helping us with our grounds!
The Outdoor LifeSong crew was here today, working hard on this hot day. They did a bit of trimming of the overgrown trees that were partially blocking our back stairway, making it safer and more visible for users. They also unloaded a truck full of mulch that was donated and delivered this morning by Tom Ciancetta, to whom we are also very thankful. Then they weeded on the playground and put down mulch in some of the areas that have gone a little bare since May when we re-mulched the climbing and swinging areas. Thank you! Don’t know what we’d do without this awesome help!
6.28.19 Life Song volunteers to the rescue! Again!
These people are truly the best!
This week, they made deliveries to the classrooms who had put in requests for supplies – those rooms are stocked and ready to go after the break!
Next they cleaned up and organized our library, which was in a state of disarray. In the library it can be super hard to put books and supplies away properly when small children are involved, making this help invaluable.
As if that wasn’t enough they also tackled a rather large copying and collating project. All this with smiles too. We’re so happy to have these wonderful folks here at Crossroads Center for Children.
5.28.19 Thank you, Life Song volunteers!
Our wonderful indoor group from Life Song worked on labeling envelopes, folding and inputting the letters and sealing the envelopes for the Golf Tournament mailing! What an enormous help! Thank you so much!
5.22.19 Life Song volunteers are great!
♥ The Life Song outside crew was seen sprucing up the playground mulch areas yesterday. They are such hard workers and do a wonderful job! In addition to maintaining the mulch, they also fixed a donated slide/climber and brought it to the area where the younger children love to play. They also pruned back a tree near the building, so that we can get in and out to access the hose without getting scratched.
Thank you LifeSong!
4.23.29 Thank you for delivering our mulch!
Another group from LifeSong has begun! We were fortunate to have mulch donated from Schenectady County Recycle Center again this year and to have the Mulch Crew from LifeSong be able to pick it up for us and deliver it. Yesterday, this group made three trips back and forth to bring 3 yards of mulch! That should last our playground through the summer. We are so grateful and excited!
As if that wasn’t enough, the crew will be working here on our mulch and yards through the spring and summer, helping us to maintain the playground and gardens. This is a huge help to us, since we don’t have anyone employed in this regard and have long relied on pitching in from staff and volunteers.
Thank you, LifeSong! You are helping Crossroads greatly!
4.11.19 Thank you LifeSong Volunteers! Your help here is a life saver!
3/29/19: We appreciate our wonderful LifeSong volunteers!
Today’s work included delivering supplies to classrooms and helping to put together all of the favors for the Gala! Thank you so much. We appreciate all of you!
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3/7/19: We appreciate our wonderful Organizers from LifeSong!
Today this group of excellent hard-workers tidied up our art and office supplies storage room! It looks awesome! Thank you all so very much for all you do for Crossroads!
2/21/19: Thank you LifeSong Volunteers!
Today’s group moved MANY heavy boxes of old records to a new storage space! They also helped us with our Gala mailing for parents! They are very hard-working individuals, and lots of fun to be around. Thank you for all of your great help!
1/31/19: Thank you LifeSong Volunteer Organizers! Today the group tackled our Library, getting things, sorted, coded and put away.
What an amazing job they are doing here! And such warm and sweet personalities to have around!
1/24/19: We are happy to welcome some new faces to Crossroads Center for Children’s volunteer program.
LifeSong has recently begun a volunteer placement at Crossroads. LifeSong is a wonderful organization and we are thrilled to have these folks here to help us with organizing some of our spaces.
Here are just two of the gentlemen who are coming here each week; they are part of a larger group that is overseen by a Job Coach from LifeSong. This picture shows them in the Laundry Room, after completing an overhaul of the room. This room also serves us for storage, and now we can actually find things!
They’ve been moving, cleaning, organizing and labeling and it looks amazing!
LifeSong, we are so happy to have you here. Thank you for your kindness, inspiration, and organization help!
Interested in how to become a volunteer with us? Click this link to read about it:
http://crossroadcenter.org/volunteer/
