Feeds'Friends' project seeks support, candidates
With about two months to go before the annual Friends project returns to the City of Wayne, organizers of the day are looking for two things: money and candidates.
“We are coming along,” said Susan Sweet-McMahon, housing rehabilitation specialist for the City of Wayne. She said about $1,100 of the estimated $1,800 required for the project has been gathered already.
The Friends: People Helping People project takes place on Sept. 13 this year. Using donated or discounted supplies and volunteer labor, residents of the community chip in to spruce up a single home. The project has taken place in Wayne for 10 years.
“It’s a feel-good day,” said Ed McMurray, co-chair of the project. “It’s a way to help make the city look a little better.”
There are several ways to donate to the project. Anyone can get their name or company logo on the project T-shirt for $50. The city will also accept donations in other amounts, too. Jimmy John’s sandwich shop has partnered with the community on the project, too. Between 4-8 p.m. on Thursdays in July anyone with a flier or who mentions the Friends project at the sandwich shop at Wayne and Newburgh roads will have 15 percent of their purchase donated to the project.
“I like to get involved in the community,” said Steve Erlandson, who owns the franchise. The shop has been open for a year now, and he has helped out with similar fundraiser for the school district through Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs).
The Friends committee is still looking for a house that meets the criteria for the project, too, according to McMurray.
“We’ve identified some potential candidates, but we’d like to have a few more,” he said.
To be eligible, a house must not be a rental property and it must require some routine but relatively minor maintenance. In past projects, volunteers have cleaned away overgrown shrubs, pulled weeds, put on new paint. Homeowners must not be able to do the work themselves—whether they are physically unable or financially unable to take on the project. The Friends committee typically gets candidates through churches or word of mouth.
“Surely there must be some home out there that could use our care,” McMurray said.
To nominate a house or to donate time or funds to the project, call Sweet-McMahon at (734) 419-0122.
