Paint-A-Thon

Last night Trev and I had the opportunity to go and volunteer to help the United Way with a housing project.  One of the clients that we do work for at my job is Zions Bank and every year they put on a "Paint-A-Thon" in conjunction with the United Way where they go and help fix up people's houses in the community.

My boss, Dave Thomas, allowed our employees to go and help Zions with their project so Trev and I signed up and made our way to Salt Lake City to help overhaul a house.

This year alone, Zions will help fix up over 50 houses and in the 17 or so years that they have been doing this program, they have helped over 300 of their community members fix up their houses.

The United Way is a great organization, one that my boss believes in whole-heartedly and that he has made me really respect a lot.  In addition to helping these people fix up their houses, the United Way is behind a lot of the Boys and Girls Clubs in our area and helps fund several service organizations that I admire.

Working with the United Way, Zions Bank and thomasArts, Trev and I had a great Monday night.  We scraped paint, primed a shed, gather weeds and chatted with some great people.  By the time the night was over, the house looked completely different thanks to all of the volunteers that showed.

The woman who lived in this home has a disease called "Stiff Man's" disease that makes her muscles basically unusable at times.  She said that she has been a slave to her house for more than 35 years.  Neighbors help her with groceries and garbage and she stays put so you can imagine her surprise to see 50 or so volunteers (including the Presidents and CEOs of two major corporations) on her front lawn.  It was her birthday the next week and the volunteers celebrated with cake, balloons and a new air conditioner.

Here are some additional pics of the event:

Here is my boss, Dave, scraping paint.

Me and Trev after a night of work.

Everyone helped. . . including some little kids.

If you are interested in volunteering at the United Way, you can Google your local office to see what services are being offered in your area or you can check out their corporate website here: http://www.liveunited.org/

Organizations like this help people make a difference in their local communities.  You can be the difference.