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Volunteer home renovation nearly complete

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Shannon Paterson on charity home renovation

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By: ctvbc.ca

Date: Sunday May. 23, 2010 4:32 PM PT

Karen Weeks and her four children will be stepping into their newly renovated home for the first time on Monday thanks to the hard work of dozens of volunteers.

Nine days ago, the home was suffering from electrical problems, bad ventilation and leaky windows that were causing mold. The condition was so bad it would make two of the children's asthma flare up.

But those problems are a thing of the past. In March of this year, Karen Weeks learned she had been chosen for a free renovation by the Aldergrove Seventh Day Adventist Church's outreach program.

Her family left the home earlier this month, and renovations began on May 14. At 5 p.m. Monday, they will be let back inside.

Church volunteer Mira Evans said Weeks, a single mother, was picked because she is "one of the hardest working women I know."

"She's got four kids and she's been working two jobs to keep her household running," she said.

And Weeks and her children aren't the only ones benefiting from the project. Pastor David Jamieson says volunteers each receive their own reward.

"Every single person that's here is receiving a rich blessing out of this," he said. "To be able to do good without expecting anything in return, it changes our lives more than it changes the families' lives."

Project coordinator Lorne Brownmiller told CTV News that volunteers, including last year's home renovation recipient Joyce Myckatyn, have used an estimated $50,000 in supplies and $50,000 in labour fixing the house.

The team will be working overnight to deliver a fully finished home to the family tomorrow, and Jamieson says they're in for quite a treat.

"I know Karen and family will be absolutely delighted with what they see."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Shannon Paterson

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