On National Rebuilding Day, April 24th, NetIP volunteers put in a great deal of hard work and time commitment in helping one elderly woman in rebuilding her home. The purpose of the event was to renovate the homes of elderly, disabled, or low-income residents by pulling together electricians, carpenters, plumbers, painters and volunteers.

This year, NetIP volunteers woke up very early on a Saturday morning and spent 8 long, hard hours re-painting and re-flooring an elderly woman's house on the south side of Chicago. The woman had lived there for over 30 years and was recently disabled due to a hip fracture. A special thanks goes out to all the volunteers, Sujata, Bobby, Kesha and Amit for going above and beyond their duties. Together, we de-greased and painted two bathrooms, a kitchen, a hallway and a living room. Sujata was on her hands and knees helping clean and re-floor the kitchen. Bobby did the tough job of painting all the ceilings and removing a dusty carpet from the living room.

The house captain who was responsible for managing the project was so pleased with NetIP volunteers that he has asked us to collaborate with him again next year to help a new home owner transform their house. The granddaughter of the woman whose house we rebuilt also had some kind words to say on behalf of the volunteers as she was touched to see total strangers spending their free time helping her rebuild her grandmother's home.

Please join us in expressing a special thanks to all the volunteers for their hard work and dedication that day!

It's a couple days late, but I wanted to recap the great effort by all the NetIP volunteers that showed up last week at Mt. Sinai Hospital.  Chicago's Sinai Health System was originally founded to serve the needs of Eastern Jewish immigrants in the community and today, it primarily serves the African-American and Latino population.

On April 3^rd, 17 NetIP volunteers woke up eager and excited to spend the day at Mt. Sinai's Kids Club Easter event. At 10am, the kids poured in and we got to work handing out Easter baskets and other crafts for the children to decorate their homes with. We helped these young artists put together Easter door handles and decorate their baskets with pipe cleaners! Pipe cleaners!

But we couldn't end the day until we got to the games! Starting off with a couple rounds of Simon Says, the kids showed off their skills and beat our volunteers pretty easily. So we moved on to a game of musical chairs and the kids loved it. With all of the voices shouting in different languages and bodies moving in different directions, it was clear that regardless of age, everyone was having a great time.

As the event came to a close, the volunteers gathered around the pipe cleaners (yes, the pipe cleaners again!) and made parting presents for the children. We made flowers, planes, and balloons, but the most requested was the butterfly (although Spiderman came in a close second).

The children and Mt. Sinai enjoyed having everyone and send along their appreciation! My personal thanks, as well, to everyone who showed up!