Volunteers at the Fifth Annual Jones Day of Service on June 19, 2010 at St. Anthony Catholic School accomplished all tasks with enthusiasm while exhibiting many hidden talents. Every one of our projects was completed prior to our leaving Saturday afternoon and the school's principal, vice principal and staff were overwhelmingly pleased with the results.

We were just over 100 strong, and after starting our day with Krispy Kreme donuts and some brief introductory remarks from Father Fred, Bill Eager, Principal, and from Elizabeth Ross of the Catholic Consortium, students from St. Anthony lead each of their teams through the labyrinth of the school's layout to their respective chores. The school's lobby underwent a welcoming transformation with new paint on the walls, ceiling, handrail and step risers. New flowers flanked the front sidewalk. A splash of color was applied to the library walls and the library tables were sanded and varnished, then surrounded by new stacking chairs. Several of the classroom teachers had identified discrete paint tasks in their rooms - - and one room was painted from top to bottom. Hallways received some touch up work and a new coat of paint. Old brass door handles were brought back to life with some old-fashioned elbow grease. The stalls in multiple bathrooms were removed and carted out to a dumpster and then the walls were spackled and/or painted and tile walls were cleaned. One team successfully tackled the building of 12 metal shelving units. The school's assembly area got a coat of new paint. And that was just in the inside! Out in the parking lot (that also serves as their playground), a team painstakingly marked new basketball courts, assembled two new basketball hoops and refreshed the paint on two 4 square areas. A picket fence "corral" was built to house the traffic/caution cones that are placed in the street when the children have recess, and three benches were assembled for a smaller playground that will be completed before the kids come back to school in the Fall. It was an exhilarating, exhausting, and very productive day. Everyone came away a winner - and we were very proud to have helped St. Anthony and its students.

Event pictures:

Getting paint
Volunteer disassembling stall door
Painted windowed door
Volunteer with broom
Teamwork on basketball hoop
Volunteer painting steps
Smiling volunteer with white thumb
Smiling painter
Library team