Leaky roofs, chipped paint and messy yards are things young people can easily fix, but not the elderly.
Students have the opportunity to help those who aren't able to help themselves as a part of Rebuilding Together May 2.
"(One year) one of our tasks was to paint the exterior of the house, and we started at about 7 a.m. to paint the house, and at about 10 a.m., after we had painted the house, it rained and it washed pretty much all the paint away that we just painted on the house," said Jonathan Savage, who has volunteered with the organization for two years now. "Everybody just kind of banded together and we just painted what we needed to, and the home owner still had her house worked on."
Formerly known as Christmas in April, Rebuilding Together is a national organization consisting of local affiliates.
The group, which was founded in 1994, helps elderly senior citizens and others in need with low incomes who own their homes make repairs on their houses.
This year Rebuilding Together will work at eight different locations May 2 from 7 a.m. until dark.
"It's different every year," said Jean Causey, director of Rebuilding Together. "We don't do the same amount of houses every year either. It depends on the donations that come in, the donations and the volunteers. There is no paid administrative staff for this organization, it's strictly volunteers."
Savage said the service is free to home owners.
"The experience I've had with our home owners last year and this year, they're just usually very appreciative," Savage said. "You don't really get a lot of home owners that want you to remodel their house like Extreme Home Makeover; they're people that just have old houses that need repairs they have not been able to do, so they're just really happy for someone to come in and do it for them."
Causey said the organization, which is a non-profit, uses donations to supply the equipment for the repairs.
"You have to really care about people to do this," Causey said.
Savage said it is a good experience for everyone involved.
"For the volunteer, it gives them a chance to give back to the community and to give of themselves and realize what their blessings are," Savage said. "For the people that are receiving it, it shows them the people in their community care and they are interested in their lives."
Jackie Pinkard, volunteer coordinator, said she encouraged students to come on Saturday.
"It's a wonderful experience for them," Pinkard said. "It's an opportunity to give back to the community, to help someone who's less fortunate, who doesn't have the money to repair their house or spruce up their yard. We're looking for skilled labor as well unskilled, anybody can get out and rake up leaves, so with this assignment everybody can help. It gives them an opportunity to see how the less fortunate actually live."
Pinkard said while May 2 is the main day to volunteer, they will not turn people away if they want to volunteer on other days.
"If they really want to do some type of volunteer work and can not make it on that day, I may be able to put them someplace else," Pinkard said.
Interested volunteers must fill out a form, and those under 18 need parental permission.
"We always say if you can paint or use a hammer that's great, but if you can smile and be a good team person and help out, that's what we like, too," Savage said.
To volunteer, contact Pinkard at 334-749-5264. For more information, visit www.rebuildingtogether.org.
Savage said volunteers should call before the day of the event, because they try to give everyone a free T-shirt and lunch.
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