Week 2 - Day 5

Mike Prelesnik

Today was cool because I was at a food bank and served homeless people and helped them carry their bags to their cars. But, what made the day really fun was that we had lunch at Lucile’s house, which is the house that another group was painting. They kept saying that she made excellent iced-tea, and she did. She was also the nicest person I have ever met.

Julie Balza

Today definitely felt like the longest day of the week. We got to go to a new food bank called “Our Daily Bread.” Most of the clientele were homeless and some looked just like we did. It gave us a real variety of people and helped us learn more. After that we got to go eat lunch at Lucille’s house. She is such an inspiring person and she actually brought me to tears. We did a prayer including her favorite quote from the bible (Psalm 23) and after we read that, she said a prayer for her family and all of us. It was really touching that even though we had just met us, she was already praying for us. After that we went back to the Yakima Food Bank we went to yesterday and help them sort out things for distribution tomorrow. Overall, this week has been an amazing experience and I can’t wait until next year.

Caitlin Hendricks

I have had the most amazing site and really love Lucille. Lucille is 72 and she is full of personality, I am really blessed to be able to meet her. She calls all of us her babies and she is very grateful for our help. She is very appreciative and the first time she saw what we were doing she started yelling from joy, “Bless your hearts, bless your hearts” over and over. She loves to cook, she makes us ice tea everyday and I do not like ice tea but I could not say no so I tried it and it was amazing. On Wednesday she made us breakfast with biscuits, bacon, eggs, home made syrup, and grits. Everything tasted amazing and she made us an angel food cake today. I really enjoy going to her house and just talking with her. She told us all about her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her two great grandchildren came over on Tuesday and I was playing with them and the eldest, Destiny, wants to be a dancer like meJ. Another amazing woman is Rosie. Rosie is Lucille’s daughter and Rosie explained that Lucille was her angel and best friend. When Father Ed was talking with Lucille she said that she refuses to take medication and her reasoning was that Jesus suffered so she can too. She was talking about how people complain too much, which I think, is absolutely true. She is really an inspiration to me. I hope that I can be as gracious and welcoming as Lucille has been to all of us. Other than talking with Lucille we have done some work, we are painting her house two different shades of gray. The house is one story but the peaks go up about 20 feet and the sides are covered in shingles so it is impossible to roll. I spent an hour using a roller and brush to finish about a 4’ by 4’ square. We finally went and rented a commercial paint sprayer that was amazing because it made the job go so much faster. Today was definitely the hardest and dirtiest day for me. Kelley and I were working on the roof because her house had a jut out on the roof that also needed to be painted. We were on our backs lying on the roof looking up painting the overhang and we were covered in paint. On the sides of this jut out the walls got smaller and smaller and it was in the shape of a triangle. I had to climb all the way up into this area and paint. I have never had to paint at such weird angles before. I have scratches from the roof shingles all over my legs and stomach and I am sore all over because the roof was so hot it burned (likely 110 or 120 degrees). I washed my hair four times and I am still finding paint everywhere. Even though I got filthy I had a great time and I would do anything to help Lucille. We are almost done we just have some cleaning to do and I am hoping we can go out to the Reservation tomorrow. The weather is great by the way…

Look for her pictures on the photo album site.
- editor


Hello Families and Stockholders

I would like to say that you invested in a great group of teens. They have been fantastic. We were kind of apprehensive about having a week with 150 folks but it has worked out very well. All of the staff members have praised how well the teens have worked at their sites. I have heard nothing but compliments in regard to our teens.
At the site that I am on with my partner Grace Daniel and six wonderful teens we are working at a White Swan residence that needs oh so much work done to it. When we got our assignment they had a pretty substantial list of items that needed to be taken care of and once we got there we knew that we wouldn’t finish them all so we picked the ones that would make life better for the family that lived there. This entailed removing a water damaged ceiling, re-insulating and re-sheet rocking it, removing and replacing a heavily damaged floor, removing and replacing a toilet, relining a tub enclosure, cleaning the kitchen numerous times, cleaning out the dining room, washing walls, priming them with Kilz and painting. The crew did all of this with many young children around with lots of energy. The situation at the house was less than ideal and the teens did a wonderful job of accepting the challenge and working longer hours than the norm. I would like to congratulate all of the parents and or guardians of the teens (Sean, Morgan, Marie, Adam, Laura, and Michael) for raising such wonderful kids. They have been a great joy to work with and I am sorry it is coming to an end. This is why I continue to come on mission each year. Thanks! Patrick Cappetto Week 2 Lead

Annissa Cerna

During this past week I have discovered so much more than what it feels like to help someone out with work, I have discovered the true meaning of family. I have been painting a lady’s house who to me is truly an angel…she has let us into her home willingly and with so much thanks and love. She is one of the most amazing lady’s I have ever met, we are so blessed to have gotten her house as a site, she treats us like more than just a bunch of obnoxious teens, she treats us like her own “babies”…like her own family, and like a family does we have stuck by her side and have done a beautiful job on her home.

Adam Jorgensen

During this week I have realized that being poor is not just because you don’t work its because there is a story of things just failing, actions that lead to you feeling like there is no hope in your life and you give. At my site I only saw hope in the kids’ eyes. They came to help us right off the bat to help us to make the house in better condition. The weird thing is that the mom, dad, and grandma just sit where their big screen is and just watch movies. The funny thing is that all the thing that I want, electronically, like movies and stuff, they all have, but the things I have like a roof over my head, etc., they don’t have. So it’s like opposite worlds. But I am happy that the family looked at their house and decided that this house did need some work to be better. Then they called us for the help.

Sean Cossano

We arrived at the site on Monday and there was no one there so we cleaned up the outside for about two hours before the grandma showed up and let us in to reveal that the lady was there the whole time. We don’t see her too often but her five kids are the most helpful kids I’ve ever met. We tore out the ceiling in the bathroom to expose two rats’ nests; it has taken until today to get it back up. We were at the sight from 11 to 7:30 and it was quite a day. I’m so glad I got the hard site again though, it always helps you realize how easy we have it, and it never ceases to amaze me how god truly works through us to get through to those who need our help in ways that we must see to honestly believe.