Tired Old Deck

Levco was asked to help some folks that were struggling with an unsafe front porch. They had been promised assistance from another organization but the promises were not kept. Levco sprung into action and rounded up the heard of willing volunteers. Armed with drills, saws and graciously donated lumber, we dug in with boundless energy.

It was a cool sunny September day 2012. The crew assembled was up to the task, we had to demo a warn out unsafe deck and replace it with a sturdy one. This project was a bit more technical than our first project.

We were 9 strong at the peak and proved to be up to the task. By the time the dust settled we were sunburned and tired, we had cycled through our battery operated tools at least 50 times, and were beaming with pride.

Ta Da

My hat is off to all the participants. They truly came from all walks of life. This is what I had in mind when the program was developed.

At the end of the day, I believe we got more than we gave.

We shared a beer and the knowledge we spent our doing a random act of kindness that is appreciated beyond our ability to imagine. We returned a few weeks later and took care of the back porch too because it was a safety hazard.

Ode to a friend

Existing Back Stairs

I did this one to honor the memory of my old best friend Kendall O’loughlin, Best man at my wedding and a hell of a guy. He looked up to me and became a paramedic, only to find that it wasn’t a perfect fit. He went on to join the Oakley sunglasses team and sadly took is own life.

New Back Porch

On our final visit, we also donated a gallon of deck sealer which they put on gladly. It was the finishing touch on a project that added a dab of safety and dignity to these folks lives. As bad as you think you’ve got it there is always someone out there that has it worse.

Although we do this work day in and day out for a living there is something cool about volunteering our selves that can not be duplicated by just talking about it. I encourage anyone wanting to get a new kind of high to give it a shot.