FeedsCandidate chosen for ‘Friends’ project
The Friends project in Wayne just took one step closer to reality.
A project house has been selected for the volunteer project, which returns next month.
“I think it’ll be a pretty good project,” said Ed McMurray, co-chair of the Friends, People Helping People project. He started the program up nine years ago as a way for volunteers to help out their neighbors.
The project involves a single home in the city. Volunteers arrive on a work day—Sept. 13 this year—and spruce up the property and provide some routine maintenance.
Volunteers use donated supplies to perform work such as putting down a new coat of paint, pulling weeds, replacing caulking or other minor items. Homeowners must be—for one reason or another—unable to do the work themselves. Past recipients have included elderly residents, single parents or those who couldn’t afford to do the work.
“It’s a good way for the city to do something positive,” said Susan Sweet-McMahon, housing specialist for the City of Wayne.
The project takes place on the second Saturday in September, but there is plenty of work is needed ahead of time. In this case, court workers will arrive within the next few weeks to powerwash the home and scrape off the old paint in order for new coats to be supplied.
“We believe we need to be prepared,” said McMurray.
The location is typically kept secret until the day of the event, when volunteers arrive at the Wayne Senior Activity Center and head out to the work site. They usually arrive around 9 a.m. and work until noon or so.
The project requires about $2,000 in donations to be successful. So far, fundraising attempts have fallen a bit short. There is still time for companies or individuals to donate to the project. For $50, they can get their name or logo on the t-shirt printed up for the event, but the deadline for that is Aug. 15. Other donations, including funds and supplies, are always welcome too, according to Sweet-McMahon.
“We’ll take anything we can get,” we said.
Those who want to volunteer should register ahead of time. They can do that or donate by calling Sweet-McMahon at (734) 419-0122.
The event usually draws about 30 volunteers according to Juan Bradford, who also works on the project.
“We’ve usually been pretty fortunate,” said Bradford.
