Griffin Special Projects Coordinator Vicki Hyatt and Garrett Massey updated the Kiwanis Club of Griffin about the upcoming One Day event.

“Kiwanis has always done a lot of great things,” Hyatt said.

However, she said the Kiwanis One Day is a particularly great thing.

“One way, one day, one K,” she said, citing the Kiwanis One Day motto. “It’s all about us working together as an organization.”

This year’s Kiwanis One Day will be on April 10 and serve as a follow-up to last year’s event, which took place in the Thomaston Mill neighborhood.

Hyatt then showed a video made about the 2009 Kiwanis One Day. The video explained how the Kiwanis and others refurbished parts of the neighborhood, including installing new playground equipment and repairing owner-occupied houses.

“We accomplished a lot in eight hours or so,” she said.

She said many neighborhood children wrote letters thanking the volunteers for refurbishing the park.

Massey described the April event in more detail. He said it would last from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Eighth Street Baptist Church, which is located on 408 Palace Street. Setup will begin at 7:30 a.m., with the work beginning at 9 a.m. There will be a break for lunch. The event will wrap up by 5 p.m.

There will be three main projects, including improvements at the church itself, repairs at eight owner-occupied homes in the area and repairs at the park where the large-scale work took place in 2009.

Massey then described the houses and the work they needed. One, whose owner was either developmentally disabled or in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, had a roof that was falling in and many non-functional light fixtures. Another house lacks sink traps, so when the owner washes their dishes, they have to collect the wastewater in buckets and dump it outside.

Other houses have non-functional hot water tanks, collapsing awnings or lattice-work instead of doors.

“There’s definitely a need in all these houses,” he said.

The park needs to have graffiti removed, weeds pulled and new mulch applied.

Massey described many items the effort needed, including food, First Aid kits, pressure-washing equipment and building materials. Both skilled laborers like electricians and plumbers and unskilled laborers are needed as well.

Kiwanis Club President Teresa Watson came forward after Massey finished. She emotionally described how she was going to work on behalf of her two sons, one of whom died on April 10 at age 18.

“He left us a legacy of service and selfless giving,” she said. “This year, I work for him.”

She also announced that the new fairgrounds building would be named the “Kiwanis of Griffin Center.”