NORTH RIDGEVILLE — Fifteen-year-old Allie Messer shrugged off 90-degree heat and pounded nails into a platform for a new roof on a house on Hedgerow Park Drive.
Aaron Doyle, 16, of Salem, Va.; Alan Gossett, 17, of Polkville, N.C.; and Allie Messer, 15, of Canton, N.C., work on installing drip rail Tuesday at a North Ridgeville home. (CT photo by Chuck Humel.)
She said she is looking forward to completing the job with other youth volunteers and seeing the reaction from the homeowners.
“It’s fun to meet new people, and I like doing stuff for God,” said Allie, of Canton, N.C. “It’s all God, all week.”
Hammers are pounding on 17 job sites around Lorain County as a contingent of about 200 young people from around the United States are helping people do badly needed home repairs.
The program involves a number of churches and is being coordinated by staff at Chestnut Ridge Baptist Church including the Rev. Darrell Myers.
Myers said the weeklong work fest is especially meaningful because participants are praying for church members Tom Tomasheski and his 13-year-old daughter Danielle, who are recovering from injuries suffered in a June 11 crash that killed Tomasheski’s wife, Tammy, and Danielle’s 11-year-old brother, Tommy.
“When you lose somebody that special and unique, your life is never the same,” Myers said.
Tom Tomasheski, a corporal at the Lorain County Jail, was upgraded Tuesday to fair condition at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, while Danielle is now undergoing rehabilitation after being released July 6 from Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.
Myers said the mission work has been planned for a long time, and the church worked with the city of Elyria to get funding for the home repairs there.
Other people who needed assistance in other communities also are getting wheelchair ramps, painting or home repairs they otherwise could not afford, said Don Hyer, a Chestnut Ridge church member.
“They’re going into communities and helping less-fortunate people who can’t afford to keep their properties up,” said Hyer, who is working as a supervisor. “We had a handful of people who could afford the materials but not the labor.”
If the tragedy involving the Tomasheski family had not occurred, Tom “would have gotten out there and help these kids and been a crew chief … he and Tammy both were great.”
Hyer’s 22-year-old son, Greg, said he put 100 miles on his vehicle Monday as a “runner” getting necessary materials.
“By the end of the week, you’re sleeping pretty good,” he said of the mission work.
At night, the young people sleep at Midview North Elementary School, and they take turns showering in the locker rooms at the high school.
Allie, who was working on a roof in North Ridgeville, said the evenings are set aside for youth devotion and teaming up with a prayer partner. She said it was very touching when the Rev. Myers shed tears while talking about the Tomasheskis at a service.
Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.
