Fresh paint delivers facelift during groups’ Cowtown project
by KC Jones, ne news editor

    Student volunteers from South Campus gave a home a fall facelift with a fresh coat of paint Saturday, Oct. 20, during Fort Worth’s 11th annual Cowtown Brush Up.

    Ten students from the Latino Student Union and Phi Theta Kappa chapter on South Campus donated a day of hard work to benefit local homeowner Robert Boyd.

    Carlos Escorcia, president of Latino Student Union, led his members’ involvement.

    “We wanted to give back to our community,” he said.

    Fort Worth put together the program to help people who cannot afford to care for the exterior of their homes.

    The city chooses applicants based on financial need.

    Boyd had been on the waiting list for only two months before his home was approved for the application of paint.

    The program requires a professional painter to be on-site to supervise the work.

    Michael Gourley, a painter in the maintenance department on South Campus, supervised the volunteers.

    This was Gourley’s second time to be involved in the Cowtown Brush Up.

    “I did this last year. When I was asked to do it this year, we had enough volunteers so we could do two houses,” he said.

    So, the South Campus volunteers took on two houses.

    Just blocks away, more TCC volunteers supervised by Charles Huber, director of student activities on South Campus, were sprucing up another exterior.

    This year, Cowtown Brush Up organized concerned volunteers to paint 150 houses, plant trees and remove graffiti throughout the city.

    According to a Cowtown Brush Up spokesman, the program offers an opportunity to impact central city neighborhoods emotionally and visually. It also promotes neighborhood stability and creates pride in ownership while stimulating a sense of community.

    To find out more about this program or to volunteer, visit the group’s website at www.cowtownbrushup.com.