For our second day of South Jersey Service, we walked down Main Street to the Perkins Center for Arts. We were welcomed by Kahra Buss, the executive director of the Perkins Center, who taught us about the historical importance of the building. Initially owned by Dudley and Alice Sullivan Perkins, the building was eventually passed to Mable D’Olier. D’Olier would later leave the building and its vast estate to the township, as long as they promised to use it for educational purposes. Today, it is used to teach all forms of art lessons, ranging from music to acting. Additionally, D’Olier was a Quaker who had involvement with the Meeting House and Moorestown Friends School.
After our quick history lesson about the Perkins Center and its goals, we split up to tackle several maintenance-related jobs that needed to be completed outside of the Perkins Center. One group cleaned the garbage bin storage location, which needed to be cleaned and reorganized. Another group worked on clipping ivy growing on trees and the exterior of the Perkins building. The final group raked fallen leaves and put them into environmentally-friendly bags to be disposed of.
For lunch, we walked back in the direction of the school to Wawa. We brought our food back to the Perkins Center and were able to eat outside. After lunch, we wrapped up at the Perkins Center before heading back to the school.