1,200 volunteers help homeowners
By JORDAN FOUTS Correspondent
SYRACUSE — Though she was there to offer doughnuts when workers began tearing off her roof Wednesday morning, Chandra Kelly had to wait until that evening to see it finished.
Kelly was one of 13 Syracuse residents whose homes were swarmed by roving bands of do-gooders for the sixth Kosciusko Day of Caring, sponsored by the United Way. Throughout the county, 1,200 volunteers worked on 125 projects for elderly, disabled and low-income residents.
While Kelly was at class in Warsaw, 10 volunteers, including students from Grace College and Wawasee High School, stripped her roof down to the wood and started over with fresh tarpaper and shingles. Her home had needed a new roof for three years, with the old material rotting and waterspots forming on the ceiling, so she applied at the urging of a friend who works with Housing Opportunities of Warsaw.
“It’s so awesome, I’m really excited to see it finished,” Kelly said between classes. “I’m very grateful to everybody doing all the work on my house.” She added that she might volunteer herself next year.
After seeing workers wash her home and paint her doors, Vickie Scarpellini in Milford said she’ll definitely volunteer next year. “They did a great job,” she said.
While volunteers finished at Scarpellini’s by 2 p.m., workers at Kelly’s were only a third of a way through. But the house was already beginning to show improvement.
“This will definitely be a higher quality roof now, (though) it was a bear to tear off this morning,” Thomas Edington, Wawasee schools superintendent, remarked as he and other volunteers laid down the new shingles. Jeffrey Acton with Millwood Roofing and Construction lead the work and supervised the less experienced but no less enthusiastic team members.
Several companies got involved directly or gave their employees paid leave to volunteer. About 169 Zimmer employees were spread around the county, including Connie Jaynes in Syracuse. It was her third year volunteering, she explained while eating lunch with almost 80 others in the community center, and said she enjoys how it always brightens the homeowner’s day.
Ed and Sharon Batesla, also sharing lunch in the community center, were having new carpet installed in their home. Work for the retirees was being done by a group of five from the Bowen Center in Warsaw who decided to volunteer for the first time.
“We could just see there were a lot of families who could use some assistance, so we decided to help out,” said site leader Nicole Cavanaugh.
“Are they doing pretty good? They’re doing a fantastic job,” Sharon Batesla enthused. “They moved all the furniture too.”
While waiting on a bus to take a group of Grace students to lunch, Noelle Haynie and Joseph Heckert were sweeping out Ron Roberts’ garage near North Webster. They noted that about 250 students from the Winona Lake college and seminary were working throughout the county that day.
“Almost every homeowner requested Grace students,” Haynie said. “Mr. Roberts was impressed when he saw the bus pull up. He said, ‘Wow, are those Grace students?’”
The Day of Caring began with a partnership between the college and the United Way, when chapel Dean Scott Feather leaned toward Executive Director Patricia Coy during a meeting and suggested they start a home makeover project in the area.
“She thought I was crazy, but she did want to do something similar,” Feather said while supervising his own project in Etna Green. “So it started with a big dream I had, and Pat toned it down, and now it’s a mix of the two.”
After 100 students participated in the first event it quickly became a tradition, he said, one students look forward to all year and talk about for months afterward. It’s a chance for student leaders to set a Christ-like example by serving people, Haynie and Heckert said.
“If we were a college where students just lived on campus, we’d be useless,” Haynie remarked. “We can serve and stand up for Christ.”
Feather expressed pride in the growing number of students who volunteer, often not knowing what to expect.
“They sign up not sure what they’ll be doing, but they show up with a smile on their face, ready to get dirty and get to work.”
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