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Volunteers team up to transform veteran's home in KCK

Posted at 4:55 PM, May 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-05-16 17:55:21-04

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Steve Rice has been in the painting business for 15 years.

“This is what I do for a living,” Rice said.

But this particular painting job, isn’t for money.

“I just kind of like helping folks out,” Rice said. “It seems like the right thing to do.”

He’s one of several volunteers working to build anew for a Vietnam War veteran.

“We do a lot of work for veterans,” Shawnee Home Depot Specialty Store Manager Grant Greenlee said. “In the whole United States, I think we've done over 33,000 projects for them so far.”

The work is done through a partnership between Home Depot and HopeBUILDERS.

“I think the most important feeling you get in helping someone that needs help and doesn't have the resources to do it themselves,” HopeBUILDERS Project Manager, John Jepsen said.

Volunteers worked on several different projects throughout the KCK home on Wednesday.

“The first thing was windows, we're also replacing some interior doors, doing some painting, swapping out some ceiling fans and things like that,” Greenlee said.

Some volunteers are veterans themselves, like Rice.

“When the sign-up sheet showed up at Home Depot that a vet needed some painting I figured, 'Hey, it's a vet, definitely going to help out,'” Rice said.

If you’d like to learn more about this partnership and how to get involved, click here.