Volunteer of the Month: Ron Hankinson

Ron Hankinson (middle) with his wife Shanne (left), fellow Project Manager Gail Duke, (far left), and family members of the homeowner, Bernsteen, (right).

Rebuilding Together Seattle is excited to recognize Ron Hankinson as the Volunteer of the Month for November! Ron is part of the passionate team at Madrona Ridge Residential who helped coordinate the first ever Safe at Home Impact Day. On November 23rd, over 100 volunteers and over 65 community partners came together to repair and improve 10 homes across Seattle. Ron's expert home repair knowledge and enthusiasm for helping the community were essential to the success of the Safe at Home Impact Day. Here is what Ron has to say about his experience volunteering with RTS:

How did you get involved with RTS?

Madrona Ridge volunteered down in the Portland area last year and wanted to provide the same service in the Seattle region where we have a much larger presence and work force available.  My position in the company created a “natural choice” for me to provide the detailed involvement necessary on such a large scale project.  Lisa Bainter provided a HUGE impact getting all the vendor donations plugged in and organized.  Truly, a team effort!

What did you enjoy most about volunteering with RTS?

A collaborative effort between Madrona Ridge, RTS, the vendors, the team leads, the outside volunteers and especially the home owners themselves…….. That was what was most enjoyable.

What repairs did your volunteer team accomplish? 

Our team consisted of 8 Madrona Ridge Residential/Security Properties volunteers, 2 Apartment Advantage volunteers, 10 additional home owner supplied volunteers and 3 site vendors providing services (Innovative Systems/ D&E Electric, Beacon Plumbing and Alliance Flooring).  We completed the following………

• Replaced kitchen vinyl flooring
• Installed ADA grab bars in bathroom
• Removed 40 cubic yards of clutter
• Installed a new range and built new kitchen cabinetry

 And MANY other repairs and improvements to the home of 86 year old Bernsteen.
 


Ron coaching a volunteer on miter saw technique.

What about RTS's mission are you most drawn to?

Anytime capable people, with good health and the means to financially support those less fortunate than we are, I think we should as the “human thing to do”.  Not to get too deep in the weeds……. My wife Shanne and I are very, very fortunate to have good health, good jobs, 3 beautiful healthy children (Connor, Tennley and Tanner), a “stable life”, if you will.  Giving back to our community is something that Shanne and I try to do to “feel good about the great lives we have”.  Donating, labor, knowledge of building construction, materials and our time, frankly, just makes us feel good. I think RTS represents this concept well and felt blessed to be an integral part of something bigger that affected so many peoples lives, both volunteers and home owners.

Thank you Ron for all of your hard work making the first Safe at Home Impact Day a huge success!