More than 500 volunteers cleaned up yards and did home maintenance on Wednesday for the annual Rocky Mountain Development Council (RMDC) Spirit of Service event.
Now in its 20th year, Spirit of Service is organized by RMDC in partnership with local businesses and organizations.
The purpose is to aid disabled, veteran or elderly individuals who are unable to do yard or home work themselves.
“A lot of seniors really value being able to sit out in their yards and have a beautiful surrounding, and so many of them can’t do the work themselves,” said Kathy Marks, RMDC operations director. “It really makes the volunteers and the rest of us at RMDC feel great to help them out.”
This year, volunteers helped improve 54 homes in the greater Helena area.
One of the beneficiaries was veteran Elmer Kwasney and his wife Judy.
Volunteers washed the Kwasney’s windows, stained their deck, planted flowers and completed other needed yard work.
The couple said the work was a huge help and they couldn’t express how grateful they were to the volunteers.
“You can’t hire somebody to do all this. It’s just amazing what they can do in one day and they come from all over,” said Elmer.
Some volunteers told MTN they were just glad to help.
“We’re just trying to help out where we can for somebody who really deserves it,” said Kristy Brown with Home Depot.
RMDC wanted to thank the people, businesses and organizations who gave their time and support to make this year’s Spirit of Service possible.
-Reported by John Riley/MTN News
