Wells Fargo employees donate time with Habitat for Humanity

• Painting

Pete Bruce, whose wife, Deb Bruce, is a Wells Fargo employee, helps prime a single-story house at 804 N. Sanborn Blvd. Wells Fargo employees — and some of their spouses — have partnered with Habitat for Humanity’s “A Brush with Kindness.” (Photo by Emma DeJong/Republic)
• Priming

The house is shown on Friday as volunteers prime the sides. (Photo by Emma DeJong/Republic)
• Fresh coat

The newly painted house is shown Tuesday after a full weekend of teamwork. (Photo by Emma DeJong/Republic)

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Volunteers had to put in 60 hours of work for Wells Fargo Bank employees to qualify for a $15,000 grant.

They more than doubled that, making a donation for Habitat for Humanity more than possible.

“It was a wonderful, wonderful gift,” said Marilyn Haley, a Habitat for Humanity board member.

Over the weekend, about 30 volunteers representing Wells Fargo and Habitat for Humanity painted and spruced up a single-story house off Sanborn Boulevard for Habitat’s “A Brush with Kindness” program.

The Wells Fargo company encourages its employees to be active in community service, said Pat Essig, president of Wells Fargo in Mitchell.

“It’s a great way for our team members to give back to the community,” he said. “We’ve never had a problem finding the willing volunteers.”

ABWK is a service to help homeowners in need of assistance by painting houses and helping with yard work and minor exterior repairs.

Mitchell’s Habitat for Humanity started the program in 2010, said Lori Baye, who is both a Habitat volunteer and a Wells Fargo employee. The recent ABWK project was one of four they have planned for the summer.

“In the meantime we are also raising money, hoping to build a home in 2013,” Haley said.

Haley said Habitat has built three homes in Mitchell, but it is difficult to raise the needed funds on a regular basis. ABWK keeps the volunteers active in the community while they fund-raise, she said.

The $15,000 from Wells Fargo will go directly to the ABWK program. Haley said they will use it for needed materials, like a ladder, scaffolding and painting equipment.

The grant came from the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation, Essig said. He added that the relationship between Wells Fargo and Habitat for Humanity has worked out well.

“It was a mutual way to utilize resources for the benefit of Mitchell,” he said. “[ABWK] really is a nice project.”

It can be a good project for other groups as well, Haley pointed out.

“We have a lot of groups contact us that would like to get involved with Habitat,” Haley said, giving examples of both youth groups and businesses looking for teambuilding activities. “This is just a perfect opportunity.”

The ABWK house this past weekend was in need of paint, and the yard had overgrown trees and shrubs.

That’s a typical project for ABWK, and when several people are involved, it’s a doable task to help someone in need.

“We can provide the strength and the tools to get that kind of thing done,” Haley said.

Tags: habitat for humanity, wells fargo, life, updates, painting, local, mitchell