Students, faculty and the community are encouraged to join the 25th Annual Operation Paintbrush project occuring on Saturday, September 13, 2008 .
The event hopes to revitalize the 1100 block of Cedar St. which is a part of Pueblo’s Bessemer neighborhood.
Small coordinated teams in conjunction with NeighborWorks will consist of local leaders, businesses, city officials, students, faculty and other organizations plan on volunteering to spend the day helping low-income, elderly and disabled families with their homes.
NeighborWorks is A national nonprofit organization created by Congress hoping to create opportunities for residents and improve communities. The organization carries out their mission by providing financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts.
Members of the community aid the organization by volunteering to help other residents of the area. Development and operations manager of the NeighborWorks Pueblo office, Jessica Cipriani, is expecting 325 volunteers to turn out for this year’s event and always enjoys having students pitch in.
“It always looks good on our résumé to say you’ve helped out in your community. It’s also a fun day of helping out the elderly and disabled people who can do the job themselves. We get to go out and rally as a team to support them. it really is a team spirited event,” Cipriani said.
CSU-Pueblo’s team captain, Trisha Macias said that once again she and her crew hope to be of great assistance to the community. Those wanting to be a part of the September project need to get their waiver forms into NeighborWorks by no later than the morning of September 13 so they are eligible to help.
As a representative of the Operation Paintbrush, this year the small group from CSU-Pueblo will paint one home in the Bessemer area. Later on in the year, Macias and her team plan to paint a home on the east side of Pueblo.
Macias said there has been a little amount of interest in the cause because it’s summer and few people check their student e-mail accounts. She commented on the benefits of volunteering to helping others stating
“It’s a way to encourage residents. When they see a couple of houses that look nice, then other people will be inspired to clean up around the area. Community stewardship I think is a good lesson you can gain out of college. It’s important to learn to get back.”
Students wanting to be a part of Micias’ team can check with Student Life to see what campus organizations are participating, NeighborWorks or their student e-mail account.
