La Sierra University students started their college experience by helping two Riverside senior citizens this past Thursday. 32 freshmen and staff donated their time to help Barbara and Fabian. This community service project was part of their first year college orientation. The two senior homeowners are neighbors in the Mission Village mobile home park in Riverside. Like most seniors they are living on fixed incomes and cannot afford to have their homes painted. They also spend most of the time dealing with doctor visits.
Fabian’s home used to be yellow but time had weathered the walls and trim. The colors were a distant memory. The park management requested to have the home painted. Barbara’s home also was faded just like Fabian’s home and needed a professional paint job. In addition, the exposed sides of Barbara’s home were stained. So this is where Habitat for Humanity
Riverside and La Sierra University came to the rescue to bring some much needed TLC to both homes.
Early Thursday before the paint job began, a morning devotion was given to start the project and students were split into 2 groups. One to paint Fabian’s home and the other to paint Barbara’s. The cheery student volunteers had the opportunity of getting to know their fellow freshman while doing a good deed all at the same time. Luckily we had great weather and plenty of cold water for all the volunteers. Barbara and Fabian came out a couple of times to inspect the work of the busy bees in their light blue and red t-shirts that read “Keep Calm and Ignite”. Before the bus drove up to take the students back for a well deserve lunch they all took group pictures in front of Barbara and Fabian’s home. Fabian was all smiles and Barbara started crying tears of joy while she thanked the La Sierra students.
This was definitely a great way for La Sierra University students to start their school year! Good Luck and Best Wishes on a successful school year.
