Community Relations Office
October 17th, 2002 --
Putting on a new roof to an old house is not an ideal way to spend a weekend, but the teens in Project R.A.K.E.(random acts of kindness everywhere) tackled a new roof, painting and building with a smile on their faces.
When Leanna Johnson, 90, a widow, went to Neighborhood Services Center to see about getting a new roof on her house in Oxford she didn't think she would see such fast results in her request. "I have to travel to Exton five days a week to get radiation treatments, I knew I didn't have time to plan for a new roof... so I went to the NSC for some help they said they would help me, so they put me on a list," said Johnson.
Meanwhile, some local teens were wondering why their church youth group would travel to South Carolina or Virginia to do mission trips and community service. "A girl in our youth group asked me why we don't do things like community service in our area, why do we travel so far, when there are people in need in our town," said Mike Atkins, youth pastor and director of Project R.A.K.E. "So we contacted the NSC and asked if there was something we could do to help... we got a list," said Atkins. "We showed the children at youth group the pictures of the people we had on the list, they instantly fell in love, they were excited to help," said Atkins.
Since the roof on Johnson's house was very steep and short, Project Rake spread themselves out to the shed in the back yard , which they also re-shingled. "I just have to pinch my self... this is such a blessing. All I can say is God is good," said Johnson.
Project R.A.K.E. is all volunteers. "We don't want people to think since it's teens and volunteers that we do bad work, we have a contractor on the roof who is one of the youth leaders and he is directing the children," said Atkins. "We do all of our work with excellence. Our goal is to show the love of Christ and to give the teens a chance to invest in the community."
The roofs were planning to be done over the weekend. "We are making a weekend of a this. It is a retreat; we are sleeping at the church and the YMCA is letting us shower there, and Margarita's Pizza even donated food... we even got all of our supplies wholesale," said Dee Loux, a crew chief and youth leader.
"This is a great experience... something to give back to the community, plus you get to learn to re-shingle a roof," said Lindsay Pincin, a Project R.A.K.E. volunteer and student at Avon Grove High School.
The volunteers had good attitudes and bright smiles despite the dreary day. "God loves this woman (Johnson) so we need to love this woman with God's love," said Rob DiIenno, volunteer for Project R.A.K.E. and student at Avon Grove High School.
Johnson wasn't the only one receiving help from Project R.A.K.E. in the area. Sylvia Hicks, 79, of Nottingham, also needed some repairs done on her home.
Project R.A.K.E. sent a team to scrape and paint Hicks' oil tank before she got her oil delivery. She also needed weather stripping around her doors, new spindles on her porch and work done in her bathroom.
Project R.A.K.E. also built new shelves at the NSC clothing room. "It is such a positive experience for everyone, everyone benefits -- whether now or in the long run," Atkins said.
Interested parties either needing work done or know of someone who could use this aid, call 610-869-7332, ask for Mike Atkins.
Leanna Johnson is beaming with joy as Project R.A.K.E. puts a new roof on her home in Oxford.