The Men’s Shed in Penticton, BC delivered numerous handmade marimbas to KVR Middle School this month, after spending more than 240 hours building the musical instruments from scratch.
This latest project kicked off at the end of the summer, when the school’s fine arts and band teacher, Fahlon Palm, asked if they could construct a few for her class. Palm’s husband, who himself used to be the school’s music teacher, had connected previously with the Men’s Shed Director Steve Jasper, who had reached out after building three marimbas himself that he wanted to donate. So a connection was made and Jasper was asked if he knew where the class could acquire more. The group agreed to take on the task themselves.
The wood, which came from Windsor Plywood, was bought by the school for the project. Palm said the local company gave them a nice discount, which really helped keep the costs down. Then all the labour hours from the group of men was donated.
The Shedders are looking forward to coming back in the near future to hear the kids play.
The Shed started back in September 2022, and has continued to grow in numbers and project accomplishments, currently meeting in a shop space out of the Penticton and District Society for Community Living (PDSCL) and looking for a more permanent home. A few of their other projects so far include installing benches for Agur Lake Camp for people with disabilities, adding countertops to ASK Wellness Society’s supportive housing building and working in collaboration with PACE, a social enterprise focussed on sustainability and employing people with barriers, to repair and replace some of the tables they use to recycle mattresses.