Sun staff
Almost every year, Josh Fox, a program assistant at Stepping Stones, goes on some kind of outdoor trip with his family members.
This year, instead of camping or hiking, Josh persuaded his brothers and father to come to Stepping Stones’ Camp Allyn, a camp that assists people with disabilities, for his birthday weekend and spend two days building a shed for the camp.
“I wanted to do something to get all of us together,” Josh said. “I wanted them to get a feel for the work I’m doing.”
Josh’s father, Jim, and his brothers Jim Jr., and Matt made the trip to the camp to help Josh with the project Oct. 12-13.
The family members traveled from Akron, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky, and began working almost as soon as they pulled in.
“We like to work together and do projects,” Josh said about his family members.
Josh said Stepping Stones’ employees expressed a need for a shed to house supplies that will be used for the camp’s sensory trail. The trail includes activity stations that are part of sensory needs respite program which will open in 2013.
“This looked like a project that was challenging enough,” Josh said about building the shed.
Josh’s father, Jim, is the president of a construction company in Akron, and he said building a shed in a weekend was do-able.
Jim said he spent a couple hours drawing up the plans for the shed and was ready to bring the shed to life when he arrived.
The men constructed the shed from the ground up. They started by leveling the ground and installing a gravel foundation and worked up to the roof.
“It was a pretty non-stop project,” Josh said. “We were all tired at the end of the weekend.”
Josh said they spent all day Saturday and Sunday working, stopping only for lunch and a bonfire on Saturday night.
Josh said they finished almost 90 percent of the shed by the end of the weekend. He said the only thing that still needs to be completed is the roof.
He said that while the project was a lot of work it was also fun.
“It’s good to be challenged, you learn a lot,” Josh said.
Josh’s father, Jim, said it was nice to do something for Stepping Stones and learn more about what the organization does.
“It seems like a terrific organization,” Jim said. “Making it thrilling to try and help.”
Josh said he hopes to finish the roof of the shed soon.
“I might try to organize another volunteer group to come with me and help,” Josh said.
The Batavia Rotary Club also volunteered at Camp Allyn the same weekend working on completing the sensory trail, which was started this summer by Build America, a fraternity that promotes recreation for people with disabilities.
Volunteer groups that would like to help complete the sensory trail or complete other projects at Stepping Stones can call (513) 732-0240.