Some 54 Catholic teenagers from Illinois, along with a sizable contingent from Greenwood, have spent the better part of a week making five homes of low-income residents look like new.
Tom Meyer, a team leader from Resurrection Catholic Church of Wayne, Ill., said the group arrived Saturday and has been staying at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church.
Along with the youngsters are five volunteers from the Sherwin-Williams building materials company of Cleveland, Ohio.
“This is our fourth year down here,” Meyer said. “Probably half our kids are new kids, which is good.”
Immaculate Heart’s pastor, the Rev. Greg Plata, once served as associate pastor at Resurrection.
Bob Siegrist, a technical service representative with Sherwin-Williams, said the young volunteers have demonstrated a lot of energy in the hot weather.
“They started prepping the houses. They’ve been scraping, sanding, power-washing, doing all that,” he said.
Siegrist, who has been part of three expeditions to Greenwood, said they arrived Monday and “really started pushing our houses on Tuesday.”
Meyer said three of the five homes the team worked on required a bit of repair prior to painting, which slowed the schedule a little. Fortunately, adult members of the church team were able to make repairs as needed, he said.
He also thanked Sherwin-Williams, which supplied the paint for the houses as well as most of the brushes and scrapers.
Meyer said the volunteers have been cautioned to drink plenty of water while on the job.
Chris Gibadlo, 17, of Bartlett, Ill., a first-timer this year, said there is an immense sense of satisfaction for a job well done.
“It’s kind of cool seeing the people come out. They’re very grateful,” Gibadlo said.
“It’s also cool to see the houses transform from something that looks like it needs a lot of work to something that looks kind of brand new,” he said.
Gibadlo was putting the finishing touches on a house at 300 First Ave.
Courtney Gura, also 17 and from Bartlett and a three-year veteran of the effort, said the combination of spending time with friends and making old houses sparkle makes the trip to Greenwood so worthwhile.
“The group is so supportive and accepting,” she said. “At the same time, you’re kind of hanging out with them, you’re kind of helping the community. It’s a really, really good mix between the two.”
Making residents smile is Gura’s favorite part of the experience.
“It’s really cool to see their reactions when you’re done,” she said.
Meyer said the young people work hard while they here — and Gura said she wasn’t ready to call it quits just yet.
“My enthusiasm is still strong,” she said.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
