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Helping hands Tinker, community rebuilding together throughout OKC

  • Published
  • By John Stuart
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  The work was diverse, but the mission was simple. As skill saws hummed, hammers whapped and paint brushes applied fresh coats April 30 and May 1, the volunteers from the Air Force Flight Standards Agency had one goal in mind: make life better for Don and Anita Hill.

The Hills have been in their Oklahoma City house off Southwest 29th Street for almost 50 years. But over the years, Don, 83, and Anita, 86, had gotten behind on some home maintenance projects. Fortunately for them, there were people who wanted to help.

Last weekend, 15 AFFSA volunteers filled the rank and file of a humanitarian corps that ensured the Hills have a better way of life. They worked through the national non-profit Rebuilding Together, which seeks to aid senior residents with home repairs that they're unable to do themselves.

"This is the best thing in the world," Don Hill said, as two AFFSA volunteers carried new cabinets past his armchair toward the kitchen, wafting saw dust in their wake. "I could never have done what they're doing. They've just done everything at no charge at all, it's really been wonderful."

Each year, AFFSA volunteers perform a house renovation project through Rebuilding Together. This year the volunteers painted, installed new flooring, changed out rotten floors, installed new cabinets, ceiling fans and window screens, and even had a few moments to pull some weeds. The project amounted to about $2,500 in materials for the renovations.

The 72nd Air Base Wing Civil Engineer Directorate also worked on a Rebuilding Together project at a different location. These teams, and seven others, are working a total of nine projects in the Oklahoma City area.

"The best thing is when the home owner comes back and you're completely done and they do a walk through. Most of them when they walk in on work day are ecstatic," said Tech. Sgt. Brian Cummins, a radar systems evaluator for AFFSA and an area coordinator for Rebuilding Together.

Seeing people's quality of life increase is always worth it, said Sgt. Cummins, who's worked on numerous Rebuilding Together projects over the past seven years.

Like the volunteers working on his house, Don Hill was a military man himself. He enlisted in the Army after World War II, and served as a sergeant and M-26 tank commander for six years. He volunteered for Korea, but never got the chance to go.

Sgt. Cummins isn't alone in his altruistic efforts, so finding volunteers for AFFSA's annual Rebuilding Together project is never hard. There are usually too many volunteers, he said. There's always a steady supply of willing hands.

Don and Anita Hill will have a vivid reminder of how volunteerism is alive in the Oklahoma City area following the renovation. But for Sgt. Cummins and the rest of the AFFSA volunteers, they're just doing something they like.

"My parents always said if you've got the skill to do it and somebody else doesn't then you need to get out and do it," Sgt. Cummins said. "And it's just something I enjoy doing."