UNITED WE PAINT Volunteer Web Site

Home | About Us | Partners | Multi-Media | Contact Us

Welcome to the United We Paint Website

RECENT NEWS:

Barona Resort & Casino's Victory for Veterans Campaign

It started on the day that will live in infamy, December 7^th 1941. James Bounds, a then 19-year old navy seaman, was serving on the USS Oklahoma when his battleship was destroyed by nine torpedoes. During the explosions and consequent capsizing of the USS Oklahoma, 429 of Jim's shipmates perished. As his ship began to sink and turn, Jim and a handful of servicemen found themselves in the haul of the ship with no place to escape as rising waters forced them to gasp for every breathe of air. Facing perilous conditions , nearly running out of oxygen, in pitch black, Jim held onto the slim hope that someone would hear them banging on the giant hull.

Finally, someone heard them 32 hours later, Jim Bounds and his companions once again saw the light of day as racing torches cut through the steel hull in time to rescue him.

Jim Bounds served our country for 27 years and has raised three children and all of them have served their country in the Navy or Air Force. Jim’s profound dedication to his country and loving commitment to his wife, Ruby is inspiring to everyone that he comes into contact with. Jim and Ruby married 67 years ago. They met at a movie theater after Jim’s ship came into port for engine repairs. Jim and Ruby lived in their modest Santee home for the last 40 years. Living decade to decade they fixed it up as needed, but never did everything they wanted.

Barona’s Victory 4 Veterans program is designed to honor and assist veterans of foreign wars by providing an eco-friendly home makeover at no charge. Barona’s Victory 4 Veterans campaign received a nomination for Jim & Ruby through the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.

Jeff Zotara, United We Paint founder stated, “As we help communities across the nation, our goal is to find the most deserving candidates. When Jim & Ruby were nominated by the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, it was a no brainer for Barona and our organization to team up an American Hero. There is a higher concentration of survivors in San Diego than anywhere in the world, yet the number is fleeting. Our partnership with Barona acted as a catalyst to recruit professionals in their fields such as KRC Rock, TurfPro, and The Home Depot to assist further and provide a substantial gift for the Bounds family.”

“We are honored to support Mr. Jim Bounds who is a true American hero and inspiration to us all,” said Edwin “Thorpe” Romero, Chairman of the Barona Band of Mission Indians. “In addition to our donation and to thank Mr. Bounds for his many years of service, Barona Tribal and staff members also served as volunteers to help with this very special home makeover. We are truly proud to be a part of this significant event that honors such a distinguished veteran in our community.”

The home makeover day will forever live in the hearts of Jim, Ruby and 130 local volunteers from Barona Casino, The Home Depot, KRC Rock, The County of San Diego, The Harford, Turf Pro and many other organizations.

In seven short hours, the makeover team painted, landscaped, replaced interior carpeting and lighting, installed solar lighting, artificial turf, and drought tolerant plantings to help the Bounds family conserve money and energy. All of the work was led by professionals and implemented by volunteers from 8 to 80 years old. The volunteers completely transformed Jim & Ruby’s home into a freshly painted, drought tolerant, and eco-friendly home. Barona and KRC Rock even provided Jim Bounds a brand new flag stone pathway leading to Jim’s newly installed 20 foot flagpole.

Upon the presentation of his own flag, an emotional Jim stated, “Wow, nearly 88 years old and I finally have my own flag pole, life can’t be any better!”

Jim & Ruby also received a custom polished granite bench from KRC Rock and La Jolla Stone Etching for their newly renovated front yard.

This project is the 515^th for United We Paint. United We paint will be seeking new candidates for their next Victory 4 Veterans campaign. For more information visit www.unitedwepaint.org.

We hope you enjoy our site. We intend to provide an opportunity for you to make a difference in your local communities. United We Paint is dedicated to helping those in need. We provide home and school makeover events, eco-friendly projects at local schools, parks, college campuses, and historical sites throughout the nation and any other great ideas we come up with during the course of the month.

Makeover events consist of painting, landscaping, renovation, and building. We are entirely funded through the generous contributions from our partners and the labor is provided by our 16,000 committed volunteers.

Makeover Days