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Community
The season for giving
Volunteers give time, strength to repair homes for Christmas in April
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photos by DARWIN WEIGEL
Greg DeStefano, 16, of Chesapeake Beach and fellow Jesus the Divine Word Catholic Church members remove layers of wallpaper from a Sunderland kitchen Saturday to prepare for painting during the annual Christmas in April program. The Huntingtown church was tackling two different homes with an army of volunteers. Some 400 volunteers worked on properties around the county.
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The temperatures felt like the Fourth of July on Saturday, but the spirit of Christmas could be felt all over the county as people gave their time, talents and donated materials to Christmas in April and helped fix up homes around the county.
Christmas in April, an affiliate of Rebuilding Together and a United Way member agency, attracted 400 volunteers who repaired 27 homes in Calvert County on April 25, said Linda Herdeman, the program's secretary.
"We're an all-volunteer program," she said. The improvements included building handicapped accessible ramps, replacing roofs and windows and plumbing and electrical repairs among others, Herdeman said.
When going around the county, "you can see work that needs to be done," she said. "There's a terrible need."
The Calvert County Lions have taken on the task for 15 years and Saturday they took on a project that lasted the weekend at a home on Shirley Way in Prince Frederick.
They gutted the bathroom, replacing the floor, walls, plumbing and rewiring, said Tommy Rosnage. "We're redoing it all," he said.
While temperatures crawled into the 90s, several men and women climbed around the roof on their knees, replacing the entire roof.
Lions member Mike Tsourounis said the home is owned by a single mother, and she asked for a ramp and bathroom but wanted to forgo the roof repair, but the roof was shot. The Calvert County Kiwanis Club built the ramp, which leads to the front door, and the Lions, who volunteer every year, completed the rest of the repairs.
For roof supplies, Tsourounis said they called Robert Kidwell, owner of Handy Bob and asked how much it would cost for the roofing material. When he learned it was for Christmas in April he said "he'd take care of it."
"He's one of the givers of the world. And he's a disabled vet," Tsourounis said of Kidwell.
Handy Bob was not the only giver of the day: Ferguson Plumbing Supply and Durham Paints donated materials for repairs to a St. Leonard home, said Randy Richards of Abe Plumbing, who donated his time to gut the whole bathroom and install new fixtures.
Volunteers worked on replacing the floor, insulation, ceiling and walls in the bathroom Saturday.
The crew, directed by Dan Wilson of Wilson Properties, worked on replacing the complete bathroom as well as installing gutters and painting. The crew, which Wilson said consists of "some of my subs," replaced 3/4 of the roof earlier. It's a four-day project, he said, but they all did not seem to mind the challenge. This was Wilson's first year to volunteer for Christmas in April, he said.
"I just did it to do it. … This is right up our alley," he said of the renovation work his crew worked on Saturday.
Most of the groups volunteer every year, some are civic groups and some church groups, Herdeman said. Groups take on whatever repairs people need to have a safe home, she said.
"We have some groups that are willing to take on anything."
From one end of the county to the other, groups of men and women selflessly donated their time to help homeowners in need by giving a gift wrapped with a bow of kindness.
