Righteous Renovation
PETROLIA — For the Chicora Alliance Church's youth group and adult volunteers, charity begins at home.
Or rather, charity begins at homes in Karns City, Petrolia and Worthington this week as the group launched three renovation projects.
Brandy Waldroup, coordinator of the effort, said for years the church sent youth and adult volunteers on mission trips to Michigan, New York and locations in Pennsylvania through Reach Mission Trips. The COVID-19 pandemic killed those plans last year and again this year, so the church decided to do construction projects locally.
Waldroup said last year the volunteers worked on four homes. This year, the 21 youth group members and nine adult volunteers, starting Monday, split up into three groups for the projects, which included a new metal porch roof and porch repairs at 106 Hope Lane, Karns City; a new deck at the home of an elderly church member at 613 Craigsville Road in Worthington; and a new porch and roof at the home of Jim and Lisa Roudebush at 281 Argyle St. in Petrolia.
The volunteers provided their own tools and expertise, while building materials were bought with money from church fundraisers.
Past mission trips have made most of the volunteers handy with tools, Waldroup said.That opinion was seconded by Mark Wallace, Chicora Alliance's pastor, who was part of the Petrolia work crew. “I'm working with this crew. We've got some handy people on this crew.”The goal is to complete the projects within three days, Wallace said.“It will be done enough by 4:30 p.m. We'll come back to do finishing touches if we have to. “Waldroup said the church learns of potential beneficiaries by word of mouth.“They see our Facebook page or someone knows someone,” she said.In the case of the Roudebushes, their neighbor, Mark Reed, at 285 Argyle St. , received a refurbished bathroom courtesy of the church last summer.“They did really good work,” said Reed, who let the church volunteers use that bathroom for breaks and his porch for a lunch spot Wednesday while they worked on Roudebush's home. “I'm really pleased with it.”
Volunteer Jessica Rumbaugh, 22, of Chicora, said her group started the porch Monday by breaking up and removing the concrete slab.“We built a frame for the porch and cemented those in yesterday,” she said. “We're going to put the deck boards on (Tuesday). We should finish up and clean up, depending on what still needs done.”Adult volunteer Mike Serafine said the work even impressed some passersby on the nearby road.“They said it was pretty impressive to see us working, and they stopped and made a donation,” Serafine said.Jim Roudebush, the homeowner, was also impressed.“The cement pad was broken up so bad, we didn't trust walking on it,” he said. “We got our name on the list, they are going to put a wood porch on and they are going to put a roof over it.”Roudebush, who is disabled, said he and his wife have owned the house for 31 years. He said he was going to leave the work to the Chicora Alliance Church crew.“I'm one of those guys that like to be in there, ripping and tearing,” he said, but mulitiple operations on his right knee has sidelined him on this project.
