8 months ago
Some homeowners found their heroes this week, when a group of almost 250 people volunteered their time repairing homes around Macon. It is called the Splash Project, and one homeowner says the eleven heroes who worked on her home have already become a family to her.
"They're loving people," Margie Ogletree says. "I hate to see them leave, but I know they got to go home."
Margie Ogletree first met the 11 volunteers fixing up her home four days ago, but she says that was enough time to grow to love them.
The volunteers came to repair the damage from last year's Mother's Day storms -- repairs Ogletree says she could never afford her own.
Ogletree says she moved into her home forty years ago.
"My heart is in this place. I fell in love with it when I first came up here," she says.
The 85 year-old cherishes her house even more because it is filled with memories of her children and her husband Rufus.
"He told them when he was buying this home. He said--I'm not buying this for myself. I'm buying this for my wife. So if I leave her, she'll have a home to live in," Ogletree says.
Her husband passed away 11 years ago, and keeping up thehome has been harder with him gone. She says it warms her heart to finally see the house looking like new again.
However, Ogletree's home is not the only one receiving repairs. The Splash Project will be working on seventeen other homes around Macon.
"The excitement that you see on the homeowner's face when the project's finished is just the most rewarding part," says Mark Kratochvil, a volunteer from Baltimore, Maryland.
"I can tell they really appreciate us helping, and it feels good," says 14-year old Leslie Hutchinson, who lives in Macon.
Ogletree says she does appreciate the help because. She says she can now look at the home her family spent 40 years in, and see the potential for 40 more.
"I'm just thankful, from the bottom of my heart," Ogletree says.
The Splash Project will finish up work tomorrow. Volunteers came from around Macon, Alabama, Maryland, and Mississippi.
