Amp writer

Nothing speaks louder than a simple act of generosity. On Sept. 18, I teamed up with a couple of friends to assist with the O'Fallon Neighborhood Preservation Team. This brand-new program is for a worthy cause - assisting low-income families with home code violations. The team fixes the outside of the homes, making them presentable. The team will start its next project sometime soon.

Alexis Wolfe, the volunteer services coordinator for O'Fallon, asked me to help with the project about a month ago. Wolfe also requested that I invite a few people to help. I had a lot of great help from various friends. A couple of them were members of Fort Zumwalt South High School's now non-existent Key Club/stream team. Others were just good friends that I knew would like to help.

"I knew I was making a positive influence on my community - and a free T-shirt always helps," said Matt Brown, 17, a Fort Zumwalt South senior.

Even though he has never done anything similar to this, Brown has always wanted to become more involved with his community. Sept. 18 was a perfect opportunity.

Because so many people were willing to help, the job was finished much sooner than anticipated. We had a group moving logs away from the house to reduce the risk of termites, another group shoveling gravel to repair the driveway, and a few other various jobs.

The work we did Sept. 18 was only a small portion of what has been done with the house. Conan Scott, one of the people in charge, explained what had been done previously.

The backyard had grass nearly 2 feet high, which had been cut before Sept. 18. They filled one-and-a-half 40-yard Dumpsters with items no longer needed, such as a freezer and other old appliances. An old fence was torn down. The garage was rearranged and new shelves were put in. The old furnace was repaired so the home would be set for the winter. The homeowner received a new furnace thanks to a community development block grant. His house was cleaned and his kitchen was rearranged. The house is now in the process of being repainted.