Ramona High School’s Habitat Chapter has been an ongoing partner with us for a few years now. Although many of them are some of the youngest volunteers we work with, they are definitely not a force to reckon with. Every group from Ramona that has worked with us have always been excited and determined to help out a senior with their homes. This group was definitely not an exception. With a large group of 17, the Ramona Chapter arrived roughly around 8:00 am to start the paint job. Although some looked like they needed a bit more sleep on this Saturday morning, Mrs. Martin, their Ramona Chapter advisor, brought everyone muffins to put some sugar in their body and wake them up! After all, a little sugar never hurt anyone.
The house we had the privilege of painting that morning belonged to Kathryn. Kathryn has been living in her home for many years now. Previously belonging to her parents, she moved in with them years ago. Now Kathryn is living by herself. She is currently working part time jobs as a substitute teacher, tutor, and even a traffic school teacher on the weekends. She is also disabled from a childhood injury and has experienced 7 surgeries in her lifetime. Even with her disability, she showed us that it did not stop her from trying to help us paint her home.
Mrs. Martin, Mr. Stoecklein, and Ms. Marquez all had the privilege of being on ladders that morning because many of the students were not 18 yet. Only students who were 18 at the time were allowed to be on all the ladders, and of course, Dave, our A Brush with Kindness Project Coordinator, utilized all of the “18 and over” adults! Since Mr. Stoecklein was one of our veteran painters from Ramona, Dave knew just where to put Mr. Stoecklein. He was put to work on the extension ladder, painting all the hard to reach areas such as the trimming on all sides of the house. Although it got a little warm that day, Mr. Stoecklein was a trooper and didn’t mind one bit!
The Ramona students were such hard workers all day long. They were very attentive of all the work that needed to be done around the home. If they were done with one area, they made sure to ask Dave what was up next on the list. It helped get things done a lot quicker and definitely sped up our paint day.
Throughout the paint day, Kathryn was constantly thanking the Ramona students for their hard working and for giving her home a bright yellow touch up. She was so thankful that she brought out homemade sweet iced tea for all the kids to enjoy! The kids were more than thankful for a sweet tea break.
We were finally done with the home around 1:00pm. The students were really great with the clean-up around the home. We finished loading everything into the truck and took a group photo before we had to say our goodbyes. Kathryn joined in and thanked us again for the wonderful job we did on her home. She was very impressed we finished her house in such a short time.
Ramona HS Habitat Chapter, thanks for your ongoing support with Habitat for Humanity, Riverside and continuing to lend a helping hand!
