The Good Guys – volunteers from companies that are members of the local chapter of the Painting and Decorating Contractors Association of America who spent the day painting a townhouse for a client of Cornerstones (formerly Reston Interfaith) capture the moment of their fellowship and community spirit outside the project property. Photo by Andrea Worker.
Friday, Dec. 13 was anything but unlucky for one Reston family, tenants in one of the 53 townhouses owned by Cornerstones Housing Corporation in Reston, Herndon and Centreville, that are rented at affordable rates to persons earning half or less than the area’s median income. That was the day that the Washington Metro Chapter of the Painting and Decorating Contractors Association (PDCA) put their annual Holiday Community Service spirit to work for Cornerstones (formerly Reston Interfaith) and its client.
Working through Cornerstones Housing Coordinator Bruce Hanneman, the site was selected, and painters from some seven different area companies converged on the property at 8 a.m. and got down to work, cleaning the surfaces and re-painting the townhouse from top to bottom, ceilings and walls. "It wasn’t difficult to get the volunteers," said Brian McCracken, President of All American Painting Plus, who served as the volunteer coordinator and the on-site project manager. "We have about 13 painters on the job today. The toughest part of the day is drying times and moisture, trying to get it all done in one go…not to mention all of us working in one pretty small space."
Even with those challenges, by the time their lunch break rolled around, the crew had the large majority of the property already been primed and a coat of paint applied to most of the townhouse. "It’s really great teamwork, especially since most of these volunteers have never worked together before," was PDCA Washington Metro Chapter President Andrew McBride’s proud declaration. McBride, owner of Image Painting, was there to do his share of the work as well as to cheer on the crew that McCracken had recruited. With the work progressing ahead of schedule, McCracken believed there would be time for a bit of extra work, not originally scheduled.
Much of the paint used for the project was supplied by Vienna Paints, with six area locations, using their Benjamin Moore products. The company’s Barnie Jones stopped by the site to check in and make sure everything needed was on hand. Painters from NOVA Painting, Tech Painting, Image Painting, All American Painting Plus, CertaPro of Arlington, Gebhardt Painting, and Décor Painting formed the charitable team.