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Let us introduce ourselves ...
Meet Bro. Donald Lachowicz (that's pronounced "Luh-HOE-vitch") founder and Home Maintenance Coordinator here at the Stone-by-Stone Project. He is assisted by Kelly Loney, a participant in the Franciscan Volunteer Program (think Peace Corps meets St. Francis). Together, they perform minor home repairs for senior citizens and low income families in South Saint Louis.
The program began two years ago through a lot of hard work, long hours and determination, and continues today as a portable "handy-team" doing everything from unclogging gutters and repairing leaky pipes to remodeling bathrooms and building wheelchair ramps.
In general, projects are kept small - something that can be completed in 1-2 days and typically costs around $200. In the past two years, we have helped 75 families and completed a handful of other community service projects (i.e., street clean-ups and a park restoration). We've involved over 250 volunteers from around St. Louis to help in our work, and they have completed over 1,900 service hours.
The best thing about what we do is the genuine gratitude we receive from our homeowners for completing even the smallest task. "Every little bit helps" is a running theme of thanks in many of our homes, and their thanks is what keeps us going.
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Wish List
Want to help but don't have the time? Well, volunteering isn't the only way you can contribute. Whether painting a kitchen or caulking an old bathtub, staff and volunteers run through a great deal of cleaning supplies. Once the repair is completed, we leave the supplies with the family to give them the basic tools to keep their house in good shape.
Cleaning supplies:
 - brooms
- mops
- scourpads
- paper towels
- cleanser
- dustpans
- buckets
- window cleaner
- rubber gloves
- scrub pads
35mm film (400 speed) - to photograph volunteers and family members doing repairs together
9V batteries - for smoke detectors
light bulbs - 60 watt, 75 watt, and/or 100 watt (often our families are living in the dark simply because they cannot afford to replace burned out bulbs)
work gloves/yard gloves - for outdoor projects or other "dirty work"
extra tools - to pass along to our clients or to use during our volunteer projects
white paint and primer
postage stamps
Financial support is always welcome!
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The Franciscan Connection