IAHSP Community Worldwide Staging Service Week
Project:
Our beneficiary this year was the Ronald McDonald House in South Fort Myers on the campus of The Children’s Hospital at HealthPark. This facility serves a five county area in Southwest Florida. The executive director, Debra Newman, was most gracious in accepting our invitation to Stage the Ronald McDonald House. By the time the project was completed, her expectations were far exceeded!
Our goal was to Stage four main areas, the living room, dining room, kitchen and activities room. We chose new paint colors for the walls, with the idea of updating the rooms with bright, cheerful, friendly hues of gold, green and terra cotta. The volunteers got to work immediately with paint donated by Benjamin Moore Paint Co. and supplies given by Sunshine Ace Hardware. The outdated window blinds were removed to let in the light. In the activities room, a tropical themed mural was created and donated by local artist Carol Wall of Artistic Visions. With the exception of the kitchen, we Staged the rooms using existing furnishings from various areas of the House and a few donated pieces. The living room was transformed from a formal, little-used area to a more casual space with several different seating areas. The dining room became more user-friendly with the addition of a large flat screen television mounted on the wall and a casual seating area with a sofa and coffee table. The activities room that had previously been a storage room became usable once again with a craft table, desk and shelves holding books and games. The final touch will be new wood flooring, which will be installed next month in the living room and the activities room.
Of course, being the creative geniuses that we are, we couldn’t stop there. We continued on and painted the foyer and the volunteers’ office. We Staged the foyer, once again using furniture from different rooms, giving it a totally new and inviting look. We Staged the lanai using some of the existing furniture, as well as new wicker chairs and a side table donated by ASP Corri OLeary. Finally, we Staged the resident manager’s apartment and the weekend manager’s bedroom.
Our project was a huge success. The executive director stated, “It’s so beautiful, I don’t even want to go home!” The volunteer coordinator couldn’t stop smiling! The feeling of pride and accomplishment on the part of our ASPs was overwhelming. It was definitely a job well done!
The ASP Stagers who participated in the project were Margie Ogle, Chapter President and Ambassador, Chris Etienne, Chapter Secretary, Corri OLeary, Teri Dixon, Charlie Macbeth and Carol Swaney. Several other friends also offered a helping hand. Our heartfelt thanks to all of them!
In addition, our thanks to the following donors: Carol Wall of Artistic Visions LLC, Benjamin Moore Paint Co., Sunshine Ace Hardware, Personal Preference Inc., The Picture Factory, Wilson Lighting, Factory Firsts of Florida, Collective Consignment, Back Door Consignment, Surroundings Furniture Consignment, More Taste Than Money, Newman Bros. Painting, Silks Plus, Back of the Bay, Ted’s Montana Grill, Penny Hook, Brendon Beittle, Krista Goede, Heino Rohde and Gordon Kottke.
Click here to see more photos!
The Naples Daily News (our area newspaper) covered the event for their website. Click here see!
Project Ambassador: Marjorie McGraw Ogle
Chapter President: Marjorie McGraw Ogle
For more info on this chapter click here
