10 UPS area managers and employees were brought together by Portia for the 2nd time to help us out at King Arthur Mobile Home Park to paint Alexandria’s home. Dave, our A Brush with Kindness Project Coordinator, warned us that it would probably heat up in the afternoon, so we needed to round up everyone right away and start on the sides of the house where the sun was hitting. After a quick safety talk and a morning prayer led by Dave, the team got to right to work. Luckily that morning, we were joined by a few more helping hands, Casey Reynolds, who is a future habitat homeowner, and Greg Lira, a student at Riverside Community College who was fulfilling volunteer requirements for a class. And several experienced volunteers and Alexandria, the homeowner, were able to help us out that morning too.
Alexandria and her son recently moved into the home a couple months ago. She is a single mom and her young son is disabled. The home definitely needed some TLC. The homes skirting was water damaged all around the house and the steps near the front door needed to be replaced as well. It was also in need of a fresh paint job.
Volunteers painted walls while Casey and Alexandria painted the pre-cut skirting and then placed them around the home to be installed. A couple not so late volunteers came by from UPS and we put them on the trim to make the paint go quicker.
At around 10pm, everyone started to feel the heat. It was about 95 degrees and rising. Warm bottled water is never a good idea during this weather, so the park manager, Calvin came to the rescue with some ice for the cooler. After the water was cooled down, water bottles were being passed around left and right to our hard working volunteers. A refreshing drink was all they needed to get right back to work!
At noon, we finally finished up Alexandria’s home. Alexandria and her son joined us in a group picture in front of the home to finish off the day and celebrate the newly painted home.
Thank you UPS and Habitat volunteers for all your hard work! You were all a blast to work with on this Habitat paint day!
