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| Christmas in October |
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| News - Osawatomie | |||
| Written by Travis Perry | |||
| Wednesday, 07 October 2009 08:00 | |||
A crowd of dedicated volunteers pitched in their time Saturday to lend a helping hand during the 16th-annual Christmas in October event.  Roughly 76 volunteers from across the community grabbed a paint brush, a scraper or a ladder to work on fix-up projects. Altogether, the effort included work on six houses, with a focus on painting, clearing brush and other simple tasks. An array of workers showed up to help Saturday, ranging from teenagers to community leaders. One notable group that made an appearance was the Calling All Girls community-service organization. Student Sadie Birchard said the high school group encourages members to get involved in their community; 15 members volunteered on Saturday. “Some of them, it’s their first year (helping with Christmas in October), but some of us, it’s our second or third year doing it,” Birchard said. “We just like helping out our community as much as we can.” Mark Marquez, a site captain supervising volunteer efforts at the home of Sharon Schuler, said he was pleased with the turnout, which he thought was about the same as it has been in previous years. In particular, Marquez said, he was glad to see the Calling All Girls members helping out. When they start the day, “nobody wants to get paint on them, but by 3 p.m. they’ll be chasing each other around with rollers,” Marquez said. In total, he said, the organization used a sizeable amount of paint Saturday, which was donated by Sherwin-Williams. “It’s a big accomplishment with volunteers to be done in eight hours,” Marquez said. Once the work was said and done at her house, Schuler couldn’t believe the transformation her home had gone through. From giving the house a fresh coat of paint to cleaning up her flower gardens, the volunteers did a delightful job, she said.
“The organization itself and all those wonderful volunteers, they did a terrific job,” Schuler said.  Across town, Steve Eichorn helped make some minor roof repairs while Doug Walker ran a paint sprayer, changing another house from white to light brown over the course of the day. Also on site with Eichorn was his wife, Donna, as well as Donna’s sister Diane Otto and boyfriend Glenn Herpick, who had traveled from Wichita to lend a hand. Interestingly enough, the house the group was working on belongs to Steve and Donna’s daughter, Jennifer Shaffer. To call it a family affair would be a bit of an understatement. Donna, a former chairwoman for Christmas in October, has remained active in the organization since handing the reins over to Diana Neal. “My favorite part is just helping people with their houses who can’t afford it,” Donna said. The roof repairs at Shaffer’s house were completed with volunteer labor and supplies bought by family members. Roof work typically is not done as part of the program because of the high cost of materials and work needed to complete it. To qualify for Christmas in October, a person must own the house they live in and meet low- or fixed-income guidelines. Houses then are chosen based on the type of work requested, which must be able to be completed by a crew of volunteer workers in a single day.
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