Editor,

It was a stellar day of sunshine on Saturday, May 4, and South Whidbey Hearts & Hammers volunteers showed their mettle on its annual workday.

About 350 volunteers gathered on the first Saturday in May to repair and clean-up 27 homes on the south end of the island. They assisted homeowners with much-needed repairs, improvements and maintenance to keep their homes safe and healthy.

This annual workday has been a tradition on South Whidbey for 26 years, with the Central Whidbey chapter finishing its 11th year. A future North Whidbey Hearts & Hammers is in the works for homeowners north of Coupeville.

On the south end, crews delivered 17.81 tons or 35,620 pounds of debris to the dump, along with a very full dumpster of metal debris that went to Island Recycle.

After a full and very productive day of clean-up and repairs, volunteers and homeowners met back at South Whidbey High School Commons where Des Rock and Barton Cole, the SWHS crew and the rest of the kitchen crew of volunteers served up a delicious “Cinco de Mayo” themed dinner of smoked chicken tinga, corn zucchini salad, green salad, a bean dish and a caramel turtle brownie with espresso crème for dessert. Thank you to all of you.

Thanks, too, to the members of our business community and all our generous donors who provide services, materials and financial resources that enable us to provide these much-needed repairs at no cost to the homeowners.

Also, we thank the county commissioners and staff for their ongoing support, and for waiving fees on the debris collected each workday. This is a huge boon to our workday and we very much appreciate it.

Finally, we extend a heartfelt thanks to the many volunteers who contributed their time, skills and big hearts to the homeowners who allowed us the opportunity to continue our mission of “neighbors helping neighbors.”

Baz Stevens, President

South Whidbey Hearts & Hammers Board