A hard day’s work
by Jody Herrington-Gettys
EAST ORANGE, Texas – Today was another great day; however, one house had its challenges. Gerald’s home was built around the 1930s and has been passed on throughout the generations. As teams measured and hung drywall, they quickly realized that the home was not square level or plumbed correctly.
Dealing with the issues of the ceilings and plumbing created a lot more work, but nothing that our seasoned construction team could not handle. By the end of the day, the floors were replaced and half of the sheet-rocked was installed, taped and mudded.

This was day 2 and the Rockford Master’s Commission (RMC) teams demonstrated amazing attitudes and great passion.

To our surprise, a lot of the RMC students have construction and landscaping experience. We expected to see them dragging a bit after a long first day of construction, but today was quite the opposite.
Tomorrow will be a “late nighter” as we have to have both homes completed, closed up with sheet-rock, mud, taped and floated. We will begin painting on Friday and the carpet will be installed on Saturday.

Gerald and Gloria’s neighbor, Renee, showed up on site to pick up the couple’s mail. As we talked I got the opportunity to hear her story. Renee was diagnosed with stomach cancer and told she had 6 months to live. But that was seven years ago! A couple members of our team reached through her car window and prayed for her healing. Renee’s eyes filled with tears…it was a very precious moment. Renee said she is so excited for Gerald and Gloria and promises not to tell them anything about the extreme blessing home makeover that is being planned for them. It is so much fun when the neighbors become part of the surprise.
The RMC Team ended the day and the progress on the homes is unbelievable. We’re looking forward to finishing out the week strong.
Tags: Disaster Relief, East Orange, Extreme Blessing, Hurricane Ike, Hurricane Relief, Illinois, Jody Herrington, Master's Commission, North America, OBI, Operation Blessing, Rockford, Texas, Volunteers
October 26th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I really, really want to get involed. I grew up with a hole family of skilled construction workers. my father is a lisends contracter. i have been building houses for over haft my life so I know I can be very usefull to yall. It would make me so very happy to help people .PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE EMAIL ME AT johnpgallion@sprintpcs.com to let me know how to get involed. I can help fulltime all year because I am not tied down to a job or nothing else. Ialso dont have a wife or kids write now ethier so I can go out of town for long periods at a time (years at a time if needed) so PLEASE email to let me know how to get started.I am availible write now today………
October 28th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Hey!
This looks like an awesome project! Makes me wish I was there! Great Job Guys!
Abby
P.S: (My brother is one of the boys down there)