Mission: Day care fix-up

All she wanted was some free paint.

A couple cans would have done the trick to spruce up the day care center inside Cross and Crown Church.

But instead, Laura Gorski's plea for help turned out a team of 20 community volunteers to give the place a mini-makeover last week.

Led by the Palatine Home Depot store, the day care inside this Arlington Heights church is now sparkling with freshly painted walls, new ceiling tiles and lights.

"This is such a big deal to us," said Gorski, the assistant manager. The facility serves low-income children and on weekends it's a gathering place for the homeless.

Bob Pavlick, safety coordinator for the store, lead the project.

In all, the church received $2,800 worth of work and materials, he said. Six gallons of paint were used, eight light fixtures replaced with four cases of fluorescent bulbs and 32 new ceiling tiles were installed.

"If every business in town did something like this one day a year, we'd have a lot less problems," said Pavlick.

Volunteers also came from the Home Depot in Mount Prospect to help the church on Rand Road. Everyone who helped took the day off work and wasn't paid for their time.

"I just enjoy helping people," said employee Doug Fritz. "I don't have the money to give, but I can lend a helping hand."

Things like this show the children in this day care center what community giving is all about, Gorski said.

"It's a simple concept," she said. "For the kids to see this is so great."

The Palatine Home Depot takes on larger projects like this between four and six times a year, Pavlick said. Others in the community helped out during the day -- Starbucks donated coffee, and Photo's Hot Dogs gave lunch.

"This really helps us," said Pastor Randy Thompson. "We are reaching out to a lot of needy kids here."