DETROIT — It has been a few weeks since your last Detroit Muscle Crew II update about the work being done at the Cathedral of St. Anthony in Detroit, and it’s time to get you up to speed.
And give you major plaudits.
And ask for more help.
As you’ve been reading since mid-spring, the Cathedral of St. Anthony was the recipient of a $5,000 donation from S.A.Y. Detroit’s Hole in the Roof Foundation for window replacement as well as other repairs at its food and clothing pantry which serves thousands of homeless and impoverished residents each year.
Thanks to members of our volunteer Detroit Muscle Crew II, 18 new glass block window units were installed, along with a new door, while four others were adjusted throughout the rectory.
So many wonderful people stepped up to make this project a success thus far. In fact, they’re so good that St. Anthony reports that it has approximately $3,500 left from its donation, and would like your help to replace some of its 100-year-old doors on the other side of the building that might need to be custom-built (more on that in a bit).
But back to the first phase of the project.
Thanks to the leadership of Mike Stephanoff, who logged more than 40 volunteer hours on the project — from getting the best deal on 18 glass block units and organizing the crew, to fabricating and welding a steel grate himself for the pantry door — St. Anthony is now able to carry out its work in a much-improved setting.
The topper? The door that you see in the photo was donated to Mike for the project by Jon Krebs of the Madison Heights Glass Company in Ferndale. The value of the door was $1,000. Thank you Jon!
In addition, John’s Lumber donated the plywood, rigid foam, caulk and shims purchased for the project (value: $208.23). Thank you Bill Brys and Chuck Diel!
Of course, the project couldn’t have come together without Scott Albaugh, owner of Albaugh Masonry. Scott sent over his team of masonry professionals to tackle the window mortar work on installation day. Their total number of hours logged was 34.
The other members of Mike Stephanoff’s crew: Ron LaBarge (33.5 hours), Al Colcernian (17.5), Joe Ferrara (15.5), Roy Seton (8.5) and Tom Stephanoff (4). Muscle Crew member Jim Primeau also came out a twice during the project to lend a hand.
Thank you all!
But we’re not done yet.
We’re looking for a few carpenters and painters to finish the project. The job would entail replacing rotted side doors at the church and painting or staining them. St. Anthony will pay you for the materials with the funding that remains from the donation. But they need help from the Muscle Crew with the physical part of the project.
Since we want to get this done quickly, please contact Jim Penrod directly at the church. He’s the clothing and food pantry coordinator at St. Anthony; his cell phone number is 586-206-3827. Just so you know, he will check with us first to make sure the volunteers are registered Muscle Crew II members before proceeding. If you haven’t yet signed up to volunteer, you can do so here.
Once again, thank you for your generosity! And don’t forget to visit your Detroit Muscle Crew II page at saydetroit.org/muscle-crew.
