Project: R.A.K.E.

New London, PA – November 5, 2003 –- Over 50 people from Project: R.A.K.E. provided free home repairs to low income families and senior citizens on national Make a Difference Day, October 25th.  Project: R.A.K.E. assisted 12 families and 2 social service organizations with some badly needed repairs to their homes and buildings.  32 Teenagers and 19 adults worked all day replacing plumbing & installing a new pressure tank, painting, cleaning out and reattaching rain gutters, installing new downspouts, repairing heater ducts, hanging drywall, building landings and steps, rewiring two whole electrical circuits that had gone bad, replacing rotten sink countertops, converting a dining room into a handicap accessible bedroom for a woman with cerebral palsy, winterizing an air conditioner, securing loose steps, hanging a new exterior door, replacing windows and a host of other repairs.  These teens want to make a difference in their community, one family at a time.

The day started for the teens at 8 AM.  Everyone met in the sanctuary of New London Church [NLC] to get their team assignments and to learn a little bit about their homeowners.  The Crew Chiefs who would be leading the work that day met at the supply garage nearly an hour earlier to be briefed on the day’s events and to load up on tools and supplies.  After Mike Atkins, Project: R.A.K.E. director and the pastor of children and youth at the church gave a run down on the day’s events, he told the teens where they’d be going.

Steve White & Jessica Lutz took three teens, Mike McGrath, Tallak Behm & Chrissi Tavel to the Greer home in Avondale.  Mike Greer and his wife had taken in their mother Louise and his sister Vicky over a year ago.  His sister has cerebral palsy, and both she and Louise are on over 15 prescriptions each month to assist them with health issues.  Mike had converted one room of his home into a makeshift bedroom for her with a private bathroom.  He was concerned that it was a little small and hard to maneuver a wheel chair in and out of it because of a 4 foot high cabinet / serving bar that spanned the center of the room.  Together, the crew removed the cabinet, cleared the room and removed the old carpet and cleaned up the floor.  They also installed two short ramps to help Vicky be able to get in and out of the house easier and down into the family dining room for meals. 

Bob Henriksen took Tyler Weitzel and Josh Mericle to Edward McDonough’s home in Oxford.  Ed had a problem last year when his bathroom pipes froze & burst destroying his bathroom.  The insurance company paid him enough to replace the pipes, insulation and drywall, but not enough to get the tub, toilet & sink reinstalled.  Over the past three RAKE weekends, we have gotten these fixtures replaced.  Bob’s crew worked on doing some finish spackling of the drywall and prepared the room for a fresh coat of paint.

Ernie McGrath and Lori Nichol took Josh Barrington, Sean Way, & Jen Kreps to the home of Ritza Hazen in Coatesville.  Ritza also experienced problems with pipes freezing last winter.  They destroyed the walls in her den and created a mold problem.  Lori led several teens in replacing the insulation and drywall around the new pipes while Ernie and Ritza’s son, Alex, worked on repairing holes in the heater duct work that had been present since they moved in three years ago.  She said she hasn’t had heat in the upstairs bedrooms since she moved in because all of holes in the ducts.

John Barrington, Dee Loux and Wendy Marinelli took seven teens into the homes of three generations of Rochester family in Kennett Square.  We worked with the children and teens there, teaching them how to paint and make general repairs around the home.  After inspecting the work and talking with the homeowners, Joan Holiday of the Chester County Health Department said, “Your mission of helping those in need in a way that builds their self-esteem and involvement has outcomes which are immeasurable.”

We installed a new pressure tank for Marcella Severt of Nottingham.  Marcella is a widow who just had her second stroke and really needs our prayers right now.  We sent a crew to the Chester County Women’s Services center in Coatesville to help them paint a bathroom, their front and back door, as well as the new fire windows and doors that they had installed to bring them up to code.  Teens also visited the new facilities of La Comunidad on State Street in Kennett Square assisting them with preparations to move in.  This included moving boxes and some extensive painting.  In Nottingham, Silvia Hicks had a faucet that leaked for years.  When we replaced the faucet in August, we discovered that the countertop had extensive water damage.  Several teens helped install a new counter for her on Saturday.  Her sister, Belle Hicks, needed some boards tightened on her front steps and a bag placed over her air conditioner and taped down to protect it this winter.  They took care of that too.

Crews traveled from Nottingham, to Oxford, to Lincoln University, to Atglen, to Coatesville, to Kennett Square helping homeowners all over southern Chester County.  Termed PROJECT: R.A.K.E., this team of students and adults, through the generous donations of local businesses and individuals, provided free labor to improve the living conditions of low income area families and senior citizens.  The goal is to get teenagers involved in the needs of their community and spread Jesus’ love through Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere. 

The actual inception of the program grew out of one student’s desire to take a summer mission experience she’d had through Ground Zero, into her own community.  Atkins explains, “Two years ago, while we were on our summer mission trip to Rock Hill, SC, Sarah Abel came and told me that she would love to do something like this (helping the community) where we live.  I asked her to call some agencies when we got back home and told her we would see what we could do.  A few days later she had called 8 different agencies and had an interview already set up!” The program’s name is based on a concept that Columbine victim, Rachel Scott, wrote about in her diary a few weeks before she was tragically killed.  Rachel believed that if one person would perform an act of kindness, it would begin a chain reaction of others doing random acts of kindness. 

Now, 2 years later, over 250 teenagers have worked together with adult leaders to make a tangible difference in the lives of over 65 families in our communities.  Atkins said, “We want students to take an active role in their community; but if nothing else, we want those who do not participate [in Project: RAKE] to, at the very least, let this ‘Project’ inspire them to get involved in their community and help someone in a real, tangible way.”

Ground Zero is the Youth Ministry of New London Church located in historic New London, PA.  Ground Zero meets weekly on Thursdays from 7:00 to 9:00 pm for middle school age students and on Fridays from 7:00 to 10:00 pm for senior high & young adults.  All 6th-12th grade students & young adults are invited to attend.  New London Church is located at 1986 Newark Road/Rte. 896, 20 minutes north of Newark, DE just minutes south of State Rd. in the heart of New London.  For safety purposes, please drop off and pick up your teens in the rear of the church.  For more information about Ground Zero or Project RAKE, please call the GZ Office at 610/869-7332 or visit www.GZYouth.com & www.ProjectRake.com

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