Spreading Christmas cheer 1 brush stroke at a time, Accent Painting gives back to cancer survivor

CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — Mindy Deming is always helping other people – even these days, when the lasting effects of her cancer do their best to keep her fighting spirit down. 

Crew from Accent Painting works on the Deming home, Santa Clara, Utah, Dec. 10, 2019 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Deming’s husband, Eron, said his wife and mother of their four children is always trying to be helpful, and thanks to the crew of a local painting company, this year he found a small way to pay her back.

Last Christmas, the owners of the family-owned Accent Painting stepped in to paint the Intermountain Healthcare Foundation Jubilee House as a way to thank the community for their continued support. Accent co-owner Matt Fackrell told St. George News it was such a feel-good experience that this year he thought they should go bigger and find some families whose homes could use a new coat of paint.

Starting in October, with the assistance of their friends at Canyon Media and 99.9 KONY morning show host Amy Chesley, the call was put out to the public to nominate people in the area that could use a paint job for their home — to find someone that needed a lift from the difficult times they are facing. 

After reading through dozens of heartbreaking submissions, Chesley said Eron Deming’s letter rose to the top.

“It was a beautiful letter,” Chesley said, adding that a lot of men don’t express themselves the way he did. “That’s a good man.”

Crew from Accent Painting works on the Deming home, Santa Clara, Utah, Dec. 10, 2019 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

The letter described Mindy Deming’s diagnosis with early stage 4 breast cancer. After undergoing a full year of chemotherapy and radiation, they thought her body was getting better and everything was finally done. However, they soon learned the cancer had spread to her brain.

“At that time we were kind of worried because when it gets into the brain, you think there’s not much they can do,” he wrote. Following a second round of aggressive treatments, his wife’s memory and balance was affected a little, but eight year later, she is still alive and is “just as helpful and happy as always.”

“Oh my gosh it was so cool,” Chesley said.

Fackrell said when he showed up at the Demings’ door to let Mindy know her house would be painted for Christmas, she was shocked and appreciative, but she had no idea what her husband had done.

“It’s been awesome,” he said.

Besides being able to help the Demings, one of the things Fackrell said he was really excited about was the boost in crew morale that comes from teamwork and giving back to others.

“You don’t really get that unless you give and volunteer.”

He said they have been attempting to make the process as smooth as possible, power washing the home last week and sending in a stucco repairman to touch up any bad spots on the structure ahead of the new paint. Sherwin Williams came through with a donation of all the paint and materials, and two paint crews were on-site Tuesday to ensure they could finish the job in one day.

Crew from Accent Painting giving back to the community for Christmas, Santa Clara, Utah, Dec. 10, 2019 | Photo by Andrew Pinckney, St. George News

Mindy Deming told St. George News that she and her husband have been slowly making improvements since purchasing the house a decade ago, but with her health problems and the challenges of raising a family, it hasn’t always been easy. She said they have been trying out new paint colors on the shed for awhile now to find out what would best match their tile roof, but she never expected they would be able to see it done so soon.

“This was just a blessing,” she said.

Deming said their house was built in around 1992, and it was long overdue for some sprucing up.

“This isn’t small. This is huge. I am blessed,” she said with tears welling in her eyes. “I love it. It looks so good. This is incredible.”

Even the Accent Painting guys got choked up, Chesley noted.

“I hope we can do it again in the future because it was awesome,” she said.

Accent Painting has been serving Southern Utah since 1969. For more information about their business, visit their website, Facebook page or Instagram account.

Written by ANDREW PINCKNEY, St. George News.

• S P O N S O R E D  C O N T E N T •

Email: apinckney@stgnews.com

Twitter: @STGnews 

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

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