“Volunteers help drive our country’s progress, and day in and day out, they make extraordinary sacrifices to expand promise and possibility,” expressed President Obama during a proclamation. And the Blue Ridge Job Corps “Village” demonstrates that on both Martin Luther King Service Day and throughout the year.

 In honor of Martin Luther King Day of Service, Blue Ridge Job Corps Center Business Community Liaison, Mike Steele along with twelve students assisted Mount Pleasant Preservation Society Museum in Marion, VA, with some early spring cleaning on January 17, 2017. Students were also given a tour, watched videos on the museum’s history behind the museum, sung songs, enjoyed a history lesson, and fellowship.

 The history of the church now turned museum dates back to 1914. Mount Pleasant was built by African Americans during a time of segregation. The church provided a safe and peaceful space for African American families to gather and worship. The church remained active before closing its doors in 1993, due to maintenance issues.

 However, one very influential community leader and teacher had a broader vision for the church’s future. Mrs. Evelyn Thompson Lawrence, sought to make the church a museum to preserve the contributions of the African American community to Smyth County, Virginia. To keep the voices of the past that will not be heard audibly again, their stories can be told and conserved. “Restore the Voices, Reclaim the Past,” declares Lawrence during an interview with Fox News.

 Unfortunately, Mrs. Lawrence who was the first African American to earn a Master’s degree in Smyth County, passed away at the age of 99. Her vision of turning the church into a local museum would be carried on by one of her former students and retired Blue Ridge employee of 30 years, William A. Fields. Securing funding from a variety of sources, he has been able to restored about 80% of the church and adjoining parsonage back to their original glory, to make Mrs. Lawrence’s vision a reality.

 The once uninhabited and condemned museum is now filled with images and material from the past. “A people without a knowledge of their history is like trees without roots,” expressed Fields. He envisions the museum being used for a variety of special occasions and tours.

 “Students came with the intentions of cleaning an old church, but what they left with was so much more,” stated Steel. The group plans on going back to help finish the project. Mr. Fields proposed to have students to serve as greeters and ushers for special events at the museum and stated that the museum’s doors are always welcome to Blue Ridge Job Corps students and instructors.