About 75 people spent West Linn resident Steve Marshall's 50th birthday renovating Kimberely Dixon-McCleary's house in Northeast Portland Sunday.
Marshall and Dixon-McCleary met earlier this month, when Marshall asked a local pastor to connect him with a family in need of help.
Work Party
West Linn resident Steve Marshall is hosting a work party to renovate Kimberely Dixon-McCleary's home in Northeast Portland. The event ends at 4 p.m. Sunday, but donations and services will also be needed later in the week, Marshall said.
Dixon-McCleary, 46, certainly fit the bill, she said. Her 21-year-old son, Andreas Price Jones, died in a gang shooting June 9, and her one-year-old granddaughter also died recently. An investigation into the cause of the granddaughter's death is ongoing, Marshall said.
Marshall, president and co-founder of marketing agency the New Group, decided to dedicate his birthday to Dixon-McCleary's family, lining up businesses to donate services and friends to volunteer their time.
"I'm truly loving every minute of it," said Dixon-McCleary as volunteers painted her house, replaced the plumbing system, fixed a broken skylight and even installed a new basketball hoop for her four children that live at home.
"My son who was killed was a very generous person," she said. "I see a bit of him in everybody that I've come to meet today."
Marshall estimated that businesses and individuals have donated about $30,000 in services, and he still hopes to find people who can donate roofing, kitchen counters, a kitchen sink and insulation.
Dixon-McCleary's own birthday was in June, but she was uninterested in celebrating at the time, she said.
"My heart continues to heal and is still overwhelmingly broken," she said. But "here we are, with unabandoned joy."
"I am able to celebrate," she said.
-- Nicole Friedman
Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/07/west_linn_man_gathers_voluntee.html
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