SILER CITY — For many years, a top priority of the Participant Advisory Committee of the Western Senior Center in Siler City has been the construction of bocce courts and horseshoe pits. These are both Senior Games events.
Earlier in October, that wish was fulfilled after a Lowe’s Home Improvement “Red Vest Impact Tuesday.”
“As I drove up to our Western Center on Tuesday, I saw an amazing, heartwarming sight,” said Dennis Streets, director of the Chatham County Council on Aging. “A crew of more than 25 employees of area Lowe’s Home Improvement stores were engaged in a wide variety of tasks to beautify our center and make a dream of our participants come true.”
The Lowe’s employees, joined by several personnel from Rebuilding Together of the Triangle, constructed two bocce courts and two horseshoe pits. In addition, they assembled two picnic tables and did extensive landscaping.
While one Lowe’s crew was busy at the Western Center, another crew was helping Rebuilding Together repair flooring at the home of a senior living near the center.
“We could never have achieved this without the support of Lowe’s and Rebuilding Together,” Streets said. “As the construction was under way at the center, there was so much joy among the seniors who watched from inside and others who strolled around the site while on their daily walk. I was excited to see the first group of seniors play bocce and pitch horseshoes.”
The Lowes’ “Red Vest Impact Tuesday,” as Lowe’s calls such volunteer events, was led by Chad Decasas, Lowe’s district manager, and two store captains (David Lynam of the Pittsboro Lowe’s and Heather Borchert of Morrisville Lowe’s.)
Clearly, this activity was not only been special for the seniors who directly benefit, but also for the Lowe’s crew.
“What a pleasure to see the warm reception and appreciation we received from both participants and staff at the senior center and also from those whose homes we helped repair,” Lynam said. “I especially remember the shock of the senior for whom we replaced her roof, installed handrails, repaired her deck and floors, and more. Having raised her children and grandchildren and cared for her parents and grandparents in this home — it meant everything to be able remain living safely there too in her older years.”
The impetus for this project was the award of a Lowe’s 100 Hometowns grant to the Chatham County Council on Aging and Rebuilding Together of the Triangle. Chatham County was chosen by Lowe’s and Points of Light to be one of 100 communities across the nation to receive this support.
Most of the grant has been used to address major home modification and repair needs. Rebuilding Together of the Triangle has undertaken this work, which had to be completed between July and October. Some of the work has involved additional “Red Vest Days,” helping repair seniors’ homes.
“Rebuilding Together of the Triangle is so grateful to be able to work with Lowes’s and support the Chatham County Council on Aging in their efforts to help seniors facing housing challenges,” said Dan Sargent, Executive Director of Rebuilding Together of the Triangle. “The repairs and modifications being done in seven homes, along with the improvements to the facilities here at the West Chatham Senior Center, will be transformative for these seniors.”
“On behalf of our seniors who will enjoy the enhancements to our Western Center and for those who are now living in safer homes, I want to thank Lowe’s Home Improvement and Rebuilding Together of the Triangle,” Streets said.
For more information about the services of the Chatham County Council on Aging, visit www.chathamcoa.org or call 919-742-3975 for the Western Center or 919-542-4512 for the Council’s Eastern Center.