When the Muncie Boys and Girls club of Muncie as the recipient of this years Lowe’s Heroes outreach, several different partnerships overlapped.
It started in the fall of 2016, the Boys and Girls club reached out to Ball State’s construction program in need of help.
Having partnered with Habitat for Humanity for 11 semesters, the construction management program at Ball State integrated the needs of the Boys and Girls Club into already established immersive learning classes.
Two classes throughout the year were asked to help the Boys and Girls Club assess their grounds and come up with a plan of what would need to be done to improve the building.
“Many of the youth call it their second home and they want a place that is up to date and clean and looks pretty on the outside and on the inside,” Boys and Girls Club Interim CEO Jodi Martin said.
The students took inventory and made a list of renovations and upgrades that they felt the facility needed. While some of their plans could be accomplished by volunteers, others required professional expertise.
For those projects, the students met with local contractors and compiled a list of price quotes so that the club could understand what they had the budget for. These quotes are also used by the club when they applying for grants.
Students also met with the staff to find out spacial needs and designed updated floor and exterior plans for a possible complete renovation on the building.
“Frankly, if we could help them in any way at all, we were pleased,” Janet Fick, instructor of construction management, said.
After extra material was following the spring class, the students decided to use it to make benches for the Boys and Girls Club.
“The students were so happy to provide them with a physical product that the students would enjoy,” Fick said. “ Waiting to hear back about grants can take time, but the benches were something we could do immediately.”
All the pre-work that the Ball State students had done was then put into motion when the Boys and Girls Club was chosen by Steve Blair, manager of the Lowe’s in Muncie, to be part of this years’ Lowe’s Heroes project.
The annual project allows each Lowe’s location to pair with a local nonprofit organization or public school and volunteer their time and resources to toward helping transform the community."
In cooperation with the Muncie Habitat for Humanity and the 8twelve coalition, a group of residents, nonprofit organizations and businesses that focus on “beautifying the neighborhood and supporting local businesses,” Lowe’s was able to dedicate two days toward the improvement of the Muncie Boys and Girls Club.
“The plans were beautiful, unfortunately for a two-day project it was more than what we were able to do, so we had to come up with a list of priorities,” Lowe’s Assistant Store Manager Jordan Halberstadt said.
On June 21 and 22, volunteers set out to complete tasks such as pressure washing the outside of the building, freshen up paint jobs, replace two of three basketball backboards, provide netting for hoops and plant low maintenance plants that didn’t require constant gardening or weeding.
“What [Blair] wanted to see is when people drive by, will they see a difference, and they will,” Martin said. “Janet Fick’s class really did a lot of groundwork for this. It’s a start, it’s the first phase of probably many phases that we will be able to bring this building as a positive, revitalized place for kids.”
After completing the project, Halberstadt and Fick are looking to return and try some of the work that they were unable to complete during the original project.
“[Lowe’s] always looking for community projects for deserving organizations and when we get asked we like to make sure that we get everything done that we set out to do,” Halberstadt said. “The Boys and Girls Club, their building needs a lot of help and it’s certainly a deserving organization. We did everything we could possibly get done in the two days. I’d love to do more projects with them in years to come.”
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